Only 28 overs’ play possible owing to rain and bad light; a missed triple hundred; a batsman left stranded on 99; and the possibility of the match heading into the sixth day. These were the highlights of the third day of the Irani Cup tie between Vidarbha and the Rest of India.
With the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium preparing perhaps the flattest pitch of the domestic season, the talking point of the morning was whether the 40-year-old Wasim Jaffer would become the oldest Indian cricketer to record a First Class triple hundred.
But, with the heavens having opened up on Thursday night, it was evident that Jaffer’s quest for the 15 runs he required would be prolonged. After persistent drizzle and mopping up work wiped out the morning session, Jaffer and his partner Apoorv Wankhede entered the field at 12.40 under overcast conditions.
Jaffer punched the first ball to deep-point for a single. However, the light dropped and umpires Anil Chaudhary and Nandan took the players back after the first over by Siddharth Kaul.
The players were back on the field after a 12-minute break. Wankhede, having taken a single off Kaul’s last ball, played out a maiden from Navdeep Saini who was at full throttle in helpful conditions.
It was Kaul who finally was rewarded for his consistency with the third ball of his next over.
Jaffer missed a full-length ball that came in and crashed into the off-stump to end the marathon innings. The veteran’s 286 (431b, 617m, 34x4, 1x6) received a standing ovation.
Wankhede, the only Vidarbha player besides India regular Umesh Yadav to have been picked in the IPL auction, showed his hitting prowess by tonking Shahbaz Nadeem and Jayant Yadav at will. R. Ashwin took it easy and didn’t bowl.
The umpires were forced to take early tea due to fading light. Upon resumption, Wadkar nicked Nadeem for the ’keeper K.S. Bharat to take a sharp catch in the second over. At the end of the over, the umpires again took the players back.
On resumption, Wankhede charged down the wicket to Jayant for a huge six and was on 99 when bad light stopped play.
The scores: Vidarbha — 1st innings: Faiz Fazal c Saini b Ashwin 89, R. Sanjay c Samarth b Yadav 53, Wasim Jaffer b Kaul 286, Ganesh Satish c Bharat b Kaul 120, Apoorv Wankhede (batting) 99, Akshay Wadkar c Bharat b Nadeem 37, Aditya Sarwate (batting) 4; Extras (b-5, lb-7, nb-1, w-1): 14; Total (for five wkts., in 208 overs): 702.
Fall of wickets: 1-101, 2-218, 3-507, 4-600, 5-691.
Rest of India bowling: Navdeep Saini 32-7-106-0, Siddharth Kaul 36-7-91-2, R. Ashwin 43-2-123-1, Shahbaz Nadeem 45-5-159-1, Jayant Yadav 48-3-202-1, R. Samarth 4-0-9-0.