Ranji Trophy 2026/27: Watchful Vidarbha batters back up bowling show to frustrate Goa

Vidarbha's Dhruv Shorey and Danish Malewar, right, have put on an unbeaten 93-run stand on the second day against Goa. | Photo Credit: PTI

Half-centuries from R. Samarth (53, 122b, 5x4), Dhruv Shorey (63*, 127b, 5x4), and Danish Malewar (51*, 86b, 7x4) helped Vidarbha extend its dominance on the second day of its Ranji Trophy Elite Group A match against Goa here at the VCA Jamtha Stadium in Nagpur.

At the close of play, the host is 217 for three, trailing by three runs with Shorey and Malewar at the crease.

Vidarbha came into the day needing two wickets to wrap up Goa’s first innings, and it did so inside the first 45 minutes. Rajneesh Gurbani induced a waft from Vasuki Koushik, leaving the impressive Yash Kasvankar, resuming on 51, to bat with No. 11 Shubam Tari.

Ranji Trophy Round 3, Day 2 - As it happened

Kasvankar looked to play aggressively, lofting Nachiket Bhute (five for 48) over mid-off for four and offering two dropped chances as he attempted to add to the scoreboard. However, before he could make a sizable addition, Bhute’s bouncer caught Tari’s glove on the way behind, earning him his fifth wicket and ending Goa’s first innings on 220.

Koushik and new-ball partner Ruthvik Naik began the bowling innings well, maintaining a consistent line and length, and denying Vidarbha openers Aman Mokhade and Satyam Bhoye any easy opportunities to score.

Their frugality soon accounted for Bhoye, who popped up a catch off Koushik, and brought Samarth, centurion in the previous match, to the crease. Mokhade and Samarth together stitched a stabilising partnership, parking any overt aggression for a more watchful eye to reach the Lunch break unscathed.

Mokhade found his scoring rhythm with several attractive punches through covers and mid-off, while Samarth got going with a pull shot through backward square-leg.

The duo looked to pick up the pace after the interval, with Samarth taking the stand past 50 by driving Kasvankar through extra-cover. However, in the following over, Mokhade brought about his own downfall by fiddling at a delivery in the channel from Ruthvik.

His dismissal proved no distraction to Samarth though, who continued to accumulate steadily with Shorey for company. Shorey took his time to begin with, but opened up when Darshan Misal entered the attack, rocking onto the backfoot to cart him through the leg-side.

With the pitch offering little assistance, Goa turned to the short ball as Tea approached. Samarth was happy to take on the challenge, playing the hook shot on multiple occasions including one to cross the fifty run-mark from 106 balls.

In the final over before the break, it nearly proved his downfall as he gloved a bouncer from Shubam Tari but wicketkeeper Shivendra Bhujbal shelled a simple chance behind the stumps.

That luck would abandon him post resumption as he feathered a good length delivery from his former Karnataka teammate Koushik behind, where Bhujbal safely completed the catch.

Samarth was replaced at the crease by Malewar, who opted for a more proactive approach from the get-go. He dumped Koushik over his head for a boundary early on in the innings, and swept Lalit Yadav off to the fence thrice, though he was perhaps fortunate not to be caught fishing in the channel against the seamers.

As the light slowly faded away, Shorey punched Kasvankar to long-on to complete a 100-ball half-century before Malewar top-edged a sweep for two to raise the fifty stand next delivery. The two ticked along through the final half-hour before Malewar brought up his first fifty of the season with a punch down the ground of Misal in the last over of a dominant day for Vidarbha.

The scores

Goa – 1st innings: Suyash Prabhudessai c Harsh b Bhute 1, Shivendra Bhujbal c Malewar b Harsh 0, Manthan Khutkar c&b Gurbani 16, Abhinav Tejrana c Wadkar b Bhute 30, Snehal Kauthankar c Samarth b Bhute 0, Lalit Yadav lbw Bhute 22, Yash Kasvankar (not out) 63, Darshan Misal st Wadkar b Rekhade 51, Ruthvik Naik lbw Gurbani 6, Vasuki Koushik c Wadkar b Gurbani 6, Shubam Tari c Wadkar b Bhute 0; Extras (b-5, lb-16, wd-2, nb-2) 25; Total (in 93.5 overs): 220

Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-3, 3-34, 4-35, 5-75, 6-84, 7-187, 8-197, 9-211

Vidarbha bowling : Harsh Dubey 19-3-48-1, Nachiket Bhute 21.5-4-48-5, Yash Thakur 15-3-35-0, Rajneesh Gurbani 20-7-33-3, Parth Rekhade 15-3-31-1, Aman Mokhade 3-1-4-0

Vidarbha – 1st innings: Satyam Bhoyar, c Tari b Koushik 2, Aman Mokhade c Bhujbal b Ruthvik 39, R. Samarth c Bhujbal b Koushik 53, Dhruv Shorey (batting) 63, Danish Malewar (batting) 51; Extras (b-5, lb-3, wd-1, nb-0); 9; (for 3 wkts. in 74 overs): 217

Fall of wickets: 1-8, 2-66, 3-124

Goa bowling: Vasuki Koushik 18-7-27-2, Ruthvik Naik 16-2-27-1, Shubam Tari 15-1-56-0, Yash Kasvankar 7-0-33-0, Darshan Misal 10-0-33-0, Lalit Yadav 7-1-30-0, Suyash Prabhudessai 1-0-3-0