Vidarbha 702 for 5 (Jaffer 286, Ganesh 120, Wankhade 99*) v Rest of India
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Rohan Gavaskar and Gaurav Kalra discuss Wasim Jaffer's 286, the highest individual score in Irani Cup history
Wasim Jaffer couldn't get to his third first-class triple century, but Vidarbha continued to grind Rest of India on a truncated third day In Nagpur.
In the 28 overs that were possible, Vidarbha added 104 for the loss of Jaffer and Akshay Wadkar, the wicketkeeper, on a flat VCA stadium deck at Jamtha in Nagpur. When early stumps were drawn because of bad light, Vidarbha had progressed to 702 for 5, with Apoorv Wankhade one short of his second first-class hundred. Aditya Sarwate, the offspinner, was unbeaten on 4.
Siddarth Kaul provided an early breakthrough immediately after play began following a two-hour delay due to rain. He produced a fine delivery that swung in late to beat the inside edge and castle Jaffer. He sent down 36 overs for two wickets in all. The spinners - R Ashwin, Shahbaz Nadeem and Jayant Yadav- picked up one wicket each across 136 overs.
Wankhede, who resumed on 44, played freely but rode luck when left-arm spinner Nadeem dropped him off his own bowling. He continued to pile on the runs from there on and come within touching distance of a century when bad light forced an early end to proceedings.
With just two full days remaining, the prospects of the game being decided on the first innings looks the most likely.
