Vihari ton sets Vidarbha stiff target
When Hanuma Vihari made a surprise Test debut against England at the Oval last September, one interesting statistic was highlighted – he had the best first-class average among current batsman.
The 25-year-old has since produced some gutsy performances in Test cricket, and on Friday again showed his run-making ability that continues to keep the Andhra player atop that special first-class list.
His 114 – he was eighth out – helped Rest of India put a decent first-innings total, and after Ranji champions Vidarbha had taken a 95-run lead, it was Vihari’s unbeaten 180 (300b, 19x4, 4x6) and two crucial partnerships that put some pressure on the home team.
Vidarbha, who won last year’s Irani Cup tie, were set a tricky 280 for victory on a spin-friendly pitch after Rest skipper Ajinkya Rahane declared the second innings at 374/3. Vidarbha were 37/1 at stumps after skipper Fayaz Fazal was out for nought, needing 243 more to win.
Vihari’s Test selection was reward for his efforts in domestic first-class cricket and he showed that appetite for runs has not diminished despite the historic series win in Australia. Rest needed fighting efforts from its batsmen, and he led the way.
Vihari first joined Rahane -- he made up for his first-innings failure by scoring a patient 87 (232b, 6x4, 1x6) – as they raised 229 runs for the third wicket. Rest had resumed the day on 102/2 with Vihari on 40 and Rahane on 25.
Rahane had struggled for fluency coming into the game and a century would have boosted his confidence.
He did all the hard work, only to miss out attempting to push the scoring. With Vidarbha trying to prevent Rest from scoring quickly, chances had to be taken and Rahane was beaten trying to hoist left-arm spinner Aditya Sarwate against the turn over midwicket and Akshay Wadkar did an easy stumping.
Another Mumbai batsman took over. Shreyas Iyer (61no – 52b, 5x4, 4x6) played and missed against pacer Rajneesh Gurbani early on. But his class stood out as he scored rapidly, to allow the declaration and give Rest bowlers 16 overs before stumps.
There was a scare after a throw from the deep hit umpire Nandan flush on his head . But after a brief stoppage, he continued to officiate.