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Akshay Wakhare grabbed two wickets and Harsh Dubey claimed three as Vidarbha restricted Himachal to 263/6 on the opening day of their four-day Ranji Trophy Elite Group B match at the VCA’s Civil Lines Stadium on Wednesday.
Pacer Praful Hinge struck with his second delivery of the morning, removing opener Shubham Arora to give Himachal an early jolt after Vidarbha captain Akshay Wadkar won the toss and elected to bowl first. It was the fourth successive match this season in which Wadkar won the toss.
Ankit Kalsi (27) and Prashant Chopra (31) added 36 runs for the second wicket before Wakhare cleaned up the former. It was the Vidarbha off-spinner’s 334th first class wicket in his 101st match. He later dismissed Aakash Vashisht for 33.
Earlier in the morning, before the start of the match, the VCA felicitated Wakhare for his outstanding contribution to Vidarbha. The 39-year-old, who made his first-class debut in 2006 vs Kerala, was presented a shawl and a silver salver by VCA President Justice Vinay M. Deshpande (former Judge of the Bombay High Court) in the presence of the two teams, the umpires and Match Referee Mr Balmik Buch.
VCA Honorary Vice-President, Dr Avinash Deshmuk, Hon. Secretary Mr Sanjay Badkas, Hon. Joint Secretary Mr Chandrakasnt Manke and CADC Chairman Mr Prashant Vaidya were also present.
With the consistent Harsh Dubey, once again proving his worth, Himachal looked vulnerable at 191/6 but an unfinished 72-run stand for the seventh wicket between skipper Rishi Dhawan (47*) and Mukul Negi (38*) helped the visitors to share Day 1 honours.
Vidarbha made two changes in their playing XI from their previous match against Uttarakhand, bringing in Karun Nair and Nachiket Bhute in place of Aman Mokhade and Akshay Karnewar, respectively.
BRIEF SCORES
Nov 6-9, 2024: VCA Civil Lines Stadium, Nagpur
Toss: Vidarbha, decided to bowl first
Himachal 1st innings 263/6 in 90 overs (Ekanta Sen 44, Rishi Dhawan 47 batting, M Negi 38 batting; Harsh Dubey 3/63, Akshay Wakhare 2/42)
Vidarbha yet to bat
