Twin tons push Vidarbha on backfoot against Chhattisgarh

NAGPUR: Never judge a book by its cover, goes an adage. Vidarbha did this mistake on Tuesday. A tinge of green on Jamtha wicket put doubts in their mind as Vidarbha opted for three pace bowlers, including Shreekant Wagh, in the playing eleven.
With Chhattisgarh suffering innings defeat against Bengal in their last match, Vidarbha would have fancied bowling them out cheaply after winning the toss. Umesh Yadav removed openers Sahil Gupta and Abhimanyu Chauhan in space of four balls to justify the decision, although for a brief period.
Vidarbha, however, had to wait for 79 overs for the next wicket as Ashutosh Singh (113, 222b, 16x1) and Amandeep Khare (116, 262b, 20x4, 1x6) produced a scintillating exhibition of strokeplay to add 227 for the third wicket.
Their twin centuries gave Chhattisgarh a perfect platform to pile up a massive first innings score as they ended the opening Day of their Ranji Trophy group 'D' match at 246-3. A lapse in concentration led Ashutosh's downfall in the last over, otherwise it would have been a perfect day for Chhattisgarh.
Amandeep, an ex-India Under-19 batsman, took 17 deliveries to get off the mark. However, once he whipped Lalit Yadav off his hips, Amandeep looked a different batsman.
This after Ashutosh drove Wagh elegantly through the covers. On his comeback, Wagh wasn't looking the same bowler. Lalit was given an extended spell by skipper Faiz Fazal but the length was either too full or too short. The Jamtha wicket settled down nicely after the first hour. There was neither any movement for pacers nor turn for the spinners.
Vidarbha spinners - Karn Sharma and Akshay Karnewar - kept things tight before lunch but whenever Lalit and Wagh came, they released pressure with boundary balls.
Wagh even tried to bowl a bouncer at Ashutosh only to see the batsman hit the ball into the stands. Ashutosh also played some glorious drives - both off front and backfoot - off Umesh before lunch. He brought his second successive fifty with a fluent cover drive off Karn.
Ashutosh and Amandeep were prepared to wait when Vidarbha bowlers bowled way outside off stump or close to stump line. Soon, they opened up and played some copybooks strokes. Amandeep reached his fifty with a delicate late cut off Karnewar. Once Amandeep reached his first fifty of the season, he started putting more pressure on Vidarbha bowlers with a flurry of boundaries.
When Karn started bowling round the wicket with six fielders on the on-side, he reverse swept him twice to reach the nineties. A six off Karn over long on took him to 99 and another late cut in the next over gave Amandeep his fourth First Class hundred. In the next over, Ashutosh pulled Karn over mid-wicket to complete his second First Class ton.
Ashutosh's wicket in the last over has given a fresh lease of life to Vidarbha. The second new ball is just 4.2 overs old and Vidarbha would be looking to make it count on Wednesday.
SCOREBOARD
Chhattisgarh (1st Innings): Sahil Gupta c Sanjay b Yadav 4, Abhimanyu Chauhan c Sanjay b Yadav 12, Ashutosh Singh c Fazal b Yadav 113, Amandeep Khare not out 116.
Extras (nb 1): 1
Total: (3 wickets, 89.2 overs) 246.
Fall of wickets: 1-16, 2-19, 3-246.
Bowling: U Yadav 15.2-2-44-3, L Yadav 12-1-48-0, S Wagh 13-3-34-0, K Sharma 24-8-65-0, A Karnewar 24-9-53-0, F Fazal 1-0-2-0.