In the 2024-25 Ranji Trophy semi-final at Nagpur, Vidarbha left-arm spinner Parth Rekhade rocked defending champions Mumbai with three wickets in an over.
Vidarbha had finished day one at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Jamtha, Nagpur on 308-5 after Akshay Wadkar won the toss and opted to bat. On the second morning, they extended that to 383 as Shivam Dube picked up 5-49. No one made 80, but Dhruv Shorey (74), Danish Malewar (79), and Yash Rathod (54) all got runs.
Mumbai had beaten Vidarbha in last year’s final to win the Ranji Trophy. Here, too, they seemed set for a reasonable score despite losing Ayush Mhatre early. After Siddhesh Lad fell for 35, opener Akash Anand and captain Ajinkya Rahane took Mumbai to 113-2.
Coming into this game, all-rounder Rekhade had only one first-class match under his belt – against Hyderabad from earlier this season. With 23, 2-51, 31, and 2-33, he had played a part in Vidarbha turning a 136-run first-innings deficit into a 58-run win.
Batting at one-drop in the ongoing match, he made 23, one of nine double-digit scores for Vidarbha. Here, he had figures of 8-4-6-0 when he ran in to bowl.
The first ball bowled Rahane off the bat. Two balls later, Rekhade had Suryakumar Yadav caught at bat-pad. Two balls after that, he had Dube caught at slip to pick up his first three-wicket haul (9-5-6-3 at that point) and leave Mumbai reeling at 113-5.
There was little respite for them at the other end. When Anand ran a single, Shams Mulani hit a four, but Harsh Dubey trapped him leg-before two balls later. From 113-2, Mumbai slipped to 118-6 in the space of 11 balls.
Mumbai were 155-6 at the time of writing with Anand (57) and Shardul Thakur (19) at the crease. Rekhade’s figures read 14-6-14-3.
