Ranji Trophy round 4, day 1: Harsh Dubey takes 9/53 for Vidarbha

Harsh Dubey, Vidarbha’s left-arm spin all-rounder, took 9/53 in 23.1 overs as Madhya Pradesh were dismissed for 209 on day one of their Ranji Trophy round four match at Nagpur. No Vidarbha bowler has taken nine wickets in an innings before; Dubey went past Arun Ogiral’s 8-39 from 1967/68, also against Madhya Pradesh.

Vidarbha ended the day on 56 for 4, still 153 runs behind. Elsewhere in the round, Punjab’s Salil Arora made his fourth successive hundred against Andhra Pradesh.

Dubey’s spell

Wisden notes that Dubey is the 30th bowler to take nine or more wickets in a single Ranji Trophy innings. His haul left Madhya Pradesh with little support for their top scorer, Atharva Mahajan, who made 85 off 123 balls. Saransh Jain added 34 from 41 balls.

Vidarbha’s reply

Vidarbha lost four wickets before stumps and finished on 56 for 4. Captain Akshay Wadkar was unbeaten on 9, so the first-innings lead is still with Madhya Pradesh going into day two.

Elsewhere in the round

Punjab finished day one on 276 for 5 against Andhra Pradesh. Salil Arora was unbeaten on 111, his fourth successive Ranji Trophy hundred, and Sanvir Singh was on 100.

Arora has 489 runs from six innings this season at an average of 122.75, with four centuries, which places him among the top three run-scorers in the tournament, according to Tribune India.