Nagpur, Nov 7 (PTI) Opener Dhruv Shorey compiled a neat century as former champions Vidarbha responded strongly to reach 283 for two at stumps after bowling out Himachal Pradesh for 307 on day two of their Ranji Trophy match here on Thursday.
Shorey, who switched to Vidarbha ahead of the 2023-24 season after playing for 10 years for his native state Delhi, led the way for Vidarbha and was batting on 108 at close of play.
Karun Nair, who parted ways with Karnataka to join Vidarbha last season, was unbeaten on 76.
The duo of Shorey and Nair added 142 runs for the third wicket to put Vidarbha in a commanding position as they now trail Himachal by just 24 runs.
Vidarbha began on a solid note with Shorey and Atharva Taide (33) putting on 50 runs for before Mukul Negi gave Himachal their first breakthrough by having the latter trapped in front of the wicket.
Shorey found an able ally in Danish Malewar as the two added 91 runs for the second wicket to lay a strong foundation for Vidarbha.
Medium pacer Vaibhav Arora brought some cheer for Himachal as he dismissed Malewar for a 72-ball 59, during which the batter struck 10 boundaries.
However, Himachal’s joy was short-lived as Shorey and Nair handled the Himachal bowlers without much difficulty to lift their team to a position of strength by the end of day’s play.
Shorey, who faced 192 balls for his knock, hit only six fours and ran a lot of singles and twos during his stay in the middle.
Malewar on the other hand, found the fence 10 times during his 72-ball knock. Shorey’s two partnerships, with Nair and Malewar, went a long way in helping Vidarbha take the upper hand in the Elite Group B game.
Earlier, resuming the day on 263 for six, Himachal added 44 runs to their overnight total before being bowled out in their first innings.
Overnight batting on 47, captain Rishi Dhawan was the chief contributor with the bat for Himachal as he top-scored with a 73-run knock that came off 135 balls.
Mukul Negi, the other overnight batter, fell for 38 while the last three men could not contribute anything with the bat for Himachal Pradesh.
Left-arm spinner Harsh Dubey was the most successful bowler for Vidarbha, returning figures of 5/71 in 34 overs, while there were two wickets apiece for Praful Hinge (2/57) and Akshay Wakhare (2/42).
Brief scores: In Nagpur: Himachal Pradesh 1st innings 307 all out in 108 overs (Rishi Dhawan 73; Harsh Dubey 5/71) vs Vidarbha 1st innings 283/2 in 70 overs (Dhruv Shorey batting 108, Karun Nair 76).
In Vizianagaram: Uttarakhand 1st innings 338 all out in 135.2 overs (Priyanshu Khanduri 112, Avneesh Sudha 86, Ravikumar Samarth 59; Lalith Mohan 4/104) vs Andhra 1st innings 92/4 in 35.5 overs (Abhishek Reddy 35; Deepak Dhapola 2/13).
In Ahmedabad: Puducherry 1st innings: 361 all out in 127.2 overs (Ajay Rohera 80, AKash Kargave 71; Siddharth Desai 4/64) vs Gujarat 1st innings 128/3 in 38 overs (Aarya Desai 66; Sagar Udeshi 2/29).
In Jaipur: Hyderabad 1st innings 410 all out in 144 overs (Rahul Radesh 100, Rahul Singh 66; Kukna Ajay Singh 5/139) vs Rajasthan 1st innings: 117/1 in 31 overs (Mahipal Lomror batting 58, Abhijeet Tomar batting 44). PTI AH AH AT AT
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