NAGPUR: Speedsters Lalit Yadav (5-22) and Rajneesh Gurbani (4-33) bailed Vidarbha out after they conceded lead and put them on a winning course with their sizzling spells on Saturday. After an extraordinary effort from pace batteries, fortune fluctuated as Vidarbha's top-5 batters faltered when they were chasing a tricky 156-run target in the must-win encounter at Lahli.
After getting all out for 271, Vidarbha skittled Assam for just 110 runs. Now, Vidarbha, at 125 for 5 in 37 overs, are 31 runs away from the target. Apoorv Wankhade (6 n.o) and Aditya Sarwate (5 n.o) were at the crease at stumps on Day-3 of elite group 'G' Ranji Trophy match.
During the chase, after's Faiz Fazal's attacking 41 runs, Vidarbha were comfortably placed at 108 for 2. Southpaw Atharva Taide (25) and right-hander Ganesh Satish's (29) were perfectly setting-up the chase. They took Vidarbha 50 runs closer to the target. Assam were staring at their third straight defeat. With nothing working against the right-left combo, they went to their last pace option - Hridip Deka (4-26) - who ignited their hopes.
Deka sent Taide, Satish and Akshay Wadkar (1) packing within 10 runs to send jitters down Vidarbha spine. The pacer gave Assam the momentum they needed while defending a small total in the last hour of the day.
Umpires gave Wankhade and Sarwate an option to extend the play as the target was just 31 runs away. Both the batters opted to continue on the fourth day morning, ensuring a break in Assam's momentum.
In order to stay in knockout contention, Vidarbha will have to knock off the remaining 31 runs. It would not be of any trouble if any one of the unbeaten batters stay till the end. If Vidarbha have to qualify, they would have to hope that the match between Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh at Sultanpur ends in a draw.
Earlier, Vidarbha added six runs to their overnight score before getting all out and conceding a 45-run lead. Assam had an upper hand and Vidarbha were under enormous pressure.
Right-arm pacer Yadav bowled a magnificent spell. His three outswingers and a couple of in-coming deliveries rocked Assam middle-order. The pacer showed the door to five middle-order batters (No.3 to No.7) at a stretch to have Assam staring at their third defeat in as many matches.
Following Yadav's magic, Gurbani, who took nine wickets in the match, wiped out the tail to ensure Vidarbha get a chaseable 156-run target. At the beginning, Gurbani and Aditya Thakare had taken a wicket each to reduce Assam to 3 for 2 and from there Yadav took over.
Brief Scores (Group 'G'):
Assam 316 and 110 (Sarupam Purkayastha 46; Lalit Yadav 5-22, Rajneesh Gurbani 4-33) vs Vidarbha 271 and 125-5 in 37 overs (Faiz Fazal 41, Ganesh Satish 29; Hridip Deka 4-26). Vid need 31 runs to win;
Maharashtra 462 and 84-4 (Rahul Tripathi 41n.o; A Rajpoot 2-27) lead UP 317 (P Garg 156, R Singh 67; S Bachhav 7-92) by 229 runs
