Ranji Trophy: Vidarbha trounce TN, set up Mumbai semis

Riding on seamer Nachiket Bhute's three-wicket haul and Yash Rathod's neatly-crafted century, Vidarbha made a grand entry into the Ranji Trophy semi-final, defeating Tamil Nadu by 198 runs on Day 4, in Nagpur, on Tuesday.

Vidarbha will take on defending champions Mumbai in the semi-final on February 17 in a re-match of last season's final.

Bhute returned excellent figures of 3/19 in his 10 overs after middle-order batter Rathod had made a watchful 213-ball 112 as last season's runners-up continued their winning run in the tournament.

Set a target of 401, Tamil Nadu, despite a long list of accomplished batters, found themselves in dire straits after being reduced to 45/5 on the penultimate day with Bhute accounting for dangerous opener Narayan Jagadeesan (18), Vijay Shankar (5) and Boopathi Kumar (0).

Though Pradosh Ranjan Paul struck a laboured 53 (95 balls) and tail-ender Sonu Yadav showed oodles of determination on way to a gritty 57, it was too little too late as TN folded for 202 in 61.1 overs, with left-arm spinner Harsh Dubey (3/40) doing the damage at the fag end by taking the last three

wickets.

Vidarbha, who resumed Day 4 with an overall lead of 297 runs, did well to demoralise Tamil Nadu by adding 103 more runs to their overnight score, losing the remaining five wickets in the process.

Rathod, who was unbeaten on 55 overnight, was the pick of the Vidarbha batters as he gradually grew in confidence to score his fifth first-class century in 16 first-class games, though he consumed 213 deliveries in the process.

His 120-run partnership with Harsh Dubey (64) helped Vidarbha consolidate their position from overnight 169/5 to 272 all out in 92.3 overs as last season's runners-up took a massive 400-run lead.

Tamil Nadu's second innings started in an almost similar fashion as the first as wickets fell in a heap with right-arm pacer Aditya Thakare striking the first blow by dismissing Mohammed Ali for 10. Bhute then took over by reducing the opponents to 45/5 in just the 17th over before Pradosh Ranjan put up a semblance of a fight with a half century.

But his dismissal virtually paved the way for Vidarbha's victory with Sonu Yadav only delaying the inevitable with a half-century.

Brief scores:

Vidarbha 353 & 272 in 92.3 overs (Yash Rathod 112, Harsh Dubey 64; Sai Kishore Sai Kishore 5/78, Ajith Ram 2/33) vs Tamil Nadu 225 & 202 in 61.1 overs (Pradosh Ranjan Paul 53, Sonu Yadav 57; Nachiket Bhute 3/19, Harsh Dubey 3/40). Vidarbha beat Tamil Nadu by 198 runs.