Ranji Trophy 2026-27: Harsh and Rekhade spin Vidarbha to an innings victory over Madhya Pradesh

Madhya Pradesh’s batters unravelled in a horror opening session as Harsh Dubey (five for 37) and Parth Rekhade (five for 14) spun Vidarbha to an innings and 20 run victory on the third day of their Ranji Trophy Elite Group A match at the VCA Jamtha Stadium here on Wednesday.

The visitor surrendered in a disastrous 30 minutes as the host’s left-arm spin twins caused chaos on a track with a little turn but no real demons.

M.P.’s young pair of Saksham Purohit and Atharva Mahajan rode their luck at times through the first hour, and were successful in navigating the first hour of play from the seamers.

However, their luck ran out as soon as Harsh, standing in for Akshay Wadkar, brought himself into the attack and trapped Saksham leg before with one that kept a touch low.

Atharva and Shubham Sharma stitched together another 29 runs, but an ill-timed sweep from the former against Harsh triggered a collapse of shocking proportions.

Atharva was adjudged leg-before, while Shubham’s attempt to punch Harsh through covers was pouched sharply by Danish Malewar. Harsh also accounted for Rajat Patidar two balls later, bowling him with a peach that straightened past the outside edge.

In an attempt to counter the left-arm threat, M.P. promoted southpaw Saransh Jain up to five, but he too was dismissed attempting to shoulder arms to Rekhade. Arshad Khan then chipped a return catch back to Rekhade, completing a passage of play in which the visitor lost four wickets for zero runs in seven balls.

With victory in sight, Rekhade dismissed Kumar Kartikeya and Avesh Khan in consecutive overs to complete a five-wicket haul, before Harsh sealed victory in just two hours and 15 minutes on the final day by wrecking Chanchal Rathore’s stumps.

The scores: Madhya Pradesh — 1st innings: 209.

Vidarbha — 1st innings: 334.

Madhya Pradesh — 2nd innings: Yash Dubey c Harsh b Rekhade 4, Saksham Purohit lbw b Harsh 34, Atharva Mahajan lbw b Harsh 18, Shubham Sharma c Malewar b Harsh 20, Saransh Jain lbw b Rekhade 2, Rajat Patidar b Harsh 0, Chanchal Rathore b Harsh 10, Arshad Khan c & b Rekhade 0, Kumar Kartikeya lbw b Rekhade 0, Avesh Khan b Rekhade 4, Ravi Kiran (not out) 0; Extras (b-8, lb-4, nb-1): 13; Total (in 33.3 overs): 105.

Fall of wickets: 1-4, 2-55, 3-84, 4-87, 5-87, 6-87, 7-87, 8-99, 9-105.

Vidarbha bowling: Rekhade 7-2-14-5, Harsh 11.3-2-37-5, Gurbani 5-1-13-0, Bhute 5-0-18-0, Nalkande 5-1-11-0.