Yadav sends Vidarbha hurtling to doom

A spectacular 15 wicket match haul by Jai Prakash Yadav sent Vidarbha tumbling to an innings and 176 run defeat against Madhya Pradesh at the Nehru Stadium in Indore. The 26 year old medium pacer from Bhopal who grabbed 7/31 in the first innings went one better in the second with a haul of 8/80 as Vidarbha, following-on, were dismissed for 219.

The visitors began their second knock on Thursday, having conceded a staggering 395 run first innings deficit. After Maninder Singh came on first-change to strike the first blow, removing opener and wicket keeper V Naidu at 21, it was Yadav all the way. Beginning with the wicket of Adwait Manohar, he ripped the innings apart with the only notable resistance coming from the eighth wicket pairing of SA Khare and Amol Jichkar who added a doughty 51.

Khare's topscore of 44 off 55 balls was studded with six fours. No.10 Abhijeet Piprode provided some late entertainment with a lusty 32 off 29 balls, including five fours and a six before Yadav in his 25th over had him caught by skipper Chandrakant Pandit to close out the match for Madhya Pradesh. The win took the hosts to the top of the points table with 14 points from three games while Vidarbha are yet to open their account in two engagements.