Wasim Jaffer's 285* puts Vidarbha firmly in control on one-wicket day

Wasim Jaffer took centre stage again in Nagpur. The 40-year old made a mammoth 285 off 425 balls as Vidarbha continued dominating the Rest of India bowling attack. If the Karun Nair-led side thought they'd had it tough on the first day, when they picked up only two wickets, the 90 overs of play on Thursday were even more unforgiving. They could dismiss only one batsman, Ganesh Satish, after he had eased to a 12th first-class century. Medium-pacer Siddharth Kaul eventually dismissed him for 120 to break a monstrous 289-run partnership for the third wicket. Satish and Jaffer had ticked along at 3.2 runs an over, scoring 47 boundaries between them. With Jaffer still at the crease, chasing a triple-hundred, the count is likely to rise for Vidarbha.

There was a decided increase in pace from Jaffer, who began the day on 113. The veteran extended his 53rd first-class ton in rapid fashion as he tackled Rest of India's three spinners - R Ashwin, Jayant Yadav and Shahbaz Nadeem - with considerable ease, and was hardly bothered by the seamers. Satish, who had offered chances yesterday and was even caught off a no-ball, was more watchful, with a strike rate that hovered just above 40 for most the innings in contrast to Jaffer's 67.

Ashwin, who replaced the injured Ravindra Jadeja in the team, was true to his recent theme of not being predictable when he switched to legspin in the lead-up to the lunch interval. It proved to be just as ineffective as the offbreaks, however, on a flat Nagpur pitch with a bit of sheen that has offered nothing to the bowlers over two days. As many as 122 overs were bowled by spinners, but none of them came close to applying sustained pressure on Vidarbha.

With the match appearing like it will go into the fifth day, and a first-innings lead enough to snap up the trophy, Vidarbha look set to pile on some more runs to bat ROI out of the game.