Harsh Dubey and Parth Rekhade each take five as Vidarbha beat Madhya Pradesh by an innings at VCA Jamtha Stadium

Vidarbha defeated Madhya Pradesh by an innings and 20 runs at the VCA Jamtha Stadium in Nagpur on Wednesday in the Ranji Trophy Elite Group A match, with Harsh Dubey and Parth Rekhade claiming five wickets apiece.

Madhya Pradesh’s batting folded quickly on the third day as the hosts’ left-arm spinners exploited a surface offering some turn; the visitors collapsed in a brief period after a solid opening hour. Harsh, standing in for Akshay Wadkar, and Rekhade were the primary wicket-takers as Vidarbha completed the win.

Harsh removed Saksham Purohit lbw for 34 with a delivery that kept low, ending the early resistance from MP’s younger batters who had survived the seamers’ initial spell. Atharva Mahajan and Shubham Sharma added 29 before Atharva was adjudged lbw to Harsh for 18 and Shubham was caught by Danish Malewar off Harsh for 20.

Two balls after Shubham’s departure Harsh bowled Rajat Patidar with a delivery that straightened past the outside edge. In an attempt to unsettle the left-arm attack, MP promoted Saransh Jain to No. 5, but he was out attempting to shoulder arms to Rekhade.

Rekhade then struck in a flurry, having Arshad Khan caught and bowled and then removing Kumar Kartikeya and Avesh Khan in consecutive overs to finish with five wickets. Vidarbha wrapped the chase in two hours and 15 minutes on the final day when Harsh uprooted Chanchal Rathore’s stumps to seal the victory.

The match scorecard: Madhya Pradesh first innings 209; Vidarbha first innings 334; Madhya Pradesh second innings 105 all out in 33.3 overs. Second-innings batting: Yash Dubey c Harsh b Rekhade 4, Saksham Purohit lbw b Harsh 34, Atharva Mahajan lbw b Harsh 18, Shubham Sharma c Malewar b Harsh 20, Saransh Jain lbw b Rekhade 2, Rajat Patidar b Harsh 0, Chanchal Rathore b Harsh 10, Arshad Khan c & b Rekhade 0, Kumar Kartikeya lbw b Rekhade 0, Avesh Khan b Rekhade 4, Ravi Kiran not out 0; Extras (b-8, lb-4, nb-1) 13; Total (33.3 overs) 105. Fall of wickets: 1-4, 2-55, 3-84, 4-87, 5-87, 6-87, 7-87, 8-99, 9-105.

Vidarbha bowling figures: Parth Rekhade 7-2-14-5, Harsh Dubey 11.3-2-37-5, Gurbani 5-1-13-0, Bhute 5-0-18-0, Nalkande 5-1-11-0.