Sarkar's 'Sixer' restrict Vidarbha to 264

At stumps Tripura made three runs without losing any wicket.

The first day was dominated by Tripura bowlers especially Sarkar who finished with an impressive figures of 18.3-3-74-6. Earlier Vidarbha won the toss and elected to bat first. In- form Vidarbha skipper Faiz Fazal (18) who was playing his 100th Ranji match for the team had a good start. He also hit three boundaries before he was caught by B Ghosh of B Sarkar with 20 runs on board. After his departure, Sanjay Ramaswamy (39, 109, 7x4) and young Atharva Taide (53, 83b, 11x4) played sensibly. Once they settled they accelerated the scoring. They made 96 run partnership for second wicket. In the process, Taide completed his fourth half-century in Ranji Trophy.

When both were going solid, Mura Singh got rid of Ramaswamy with 116 runs on the board. On the same score, Vidarbha received another blow when Ajay Sarkar got the prized scalp of Atharva Taide. Seasoned Ganesh Satish (1) too returned to the pavilion cheaply. Thus Vidarbha were struggling on 117 for 4 at one stage

After initial hiccups, stumper Aksnhay Wadkar (43, 74, 7x4) and Apoorv Wankhade (47, 48b, 6x4, 1x4) started the rescue act. If wadkar was little bit cautious, Wankahde played in his usual style. They made 86-run partnership for the fifth wicket. When Wankhade was three run short of half-century, Ajay Sarkar trapped him in front of stumps. Wadkar's resistance came to an end when AS Sarkar cleaned bowled him with 218 runs on board. Aditya Sarvate contributed 35 runs whereas Akshay Wakhare remained not out on 18.

At stumps, Bikram Kumar Das was playing on three in the company of B Ghosh who was yet to open his account.

Brief score

Vidarbha (1st innings): 264 all out in 83.3 overs (Atharva Taide 53, Akshay Wadkar 43, Apoorv Wankhade 47, S Ramaswamy 39, Aditya Sarvate 35, AS Sarkar 6 for 74)

Tripura (1sst innings): 3 for 0 in 2 overs