Saurashtra struggle despite Pujara ton

NAGPUR: The blade of Cheteshwar Pujara (114, 223b, 15x4, 1x6) was getting broader with each passing hour. Everything was hitting middle of the bat; his feet were moving nicely and slowness in the wicket was hardly any threat to him.
Even though he was beaten in the air on a few occasion, the slowness of the wicket meant Pujara was always in control. The drives, pulls, flicks, cuts, late cuts - everything was just perfect about India's No.3.For more than three and half hours, he had kept Vidarbha bowlers at bay in august company of Sagar Jogiyani (81, 216b, 11x4, 1x6). He wasn't only defending well but punishing the loose deliveries as well.
After he scored his fifth hundred in his last six Ranji Trophy innings, Vidarbha needed to think differently and try something out of the box. Off spinner Akshay Wakhare (33-11-61-3) did exactly that. Till then he was exploiting the rough outside off stump, which was created by two left-arm seamers -Shreekant Wagh and Ravi Thakur. He decided to come round the wicket and Jogiyani tried to hit the fuller delivery with the turn for a maximum but couldn't find enough elevation. Wagh didn't have to move an inch and the 185-run stand third-wicket was broken.
Vidarbha had seized one moment but Pujara was still there. Wakhare continued bowling round the wicket and next over he beat Pujara in the air. The ball turned enough and hit Pujara on the pads. While there was no doubt about its direction, the batsman thought he edged it. He was upset all along he walked to the pavilion. Vidarbha players were celebrating. They knew they had caught the big fish. From 205-2, Saurashtra had slumped to 208-4. Within space of 14 balls, both set batsmen had been removed. When season's highest run-getter Sheldon Jackson too succumbed trying to hit, Wakhare over mid-off, Saurashtra had lost the way and ended the Day 3 of Ranji Trophy Group 'B' tie at 251-5, still trailing by 332. The last recognized batting pair of Jaydev Shah and Arpit Vasavada was at the crease at stumps.
It was a typical Pujara innings. He was watchful early on; left plenty of balls outside and presented straight bat on good length balls. However, the two gorgeous shots off Wagh -one through the cover and a brilliant pull through square leg -got him going. Two more came in Wagh's next over when he drove the left-armer straight and then flicked brilliantly. The spinners were on immediately and Jogiyani greeted left-arm spinner Rakesh Dhruv with a lofted shot over his head. The pair was growing in confidence and scoring at a good rate. They remained unseparated at lunch. Pujara scored his hundred by lofting Ravi Jangid over mid-wicket. Vidarbha kept it tight in the second session but Saurashtra batsmen were equal to the task till Jogiyani lost his cool to throw away the opportunity to score a hundred. It was a brilliant performance by the home team even though they lost Rakesh Dhruv due to ankle injury. None of the bowlers leaked runs and bowled according to the plan.
SCOREBOARD
Vidarbha (1st Innings) 583-9 decl
Saurashtra (1st Innings, overnight 20-2): S Jogiyani c Wagh b Wakhare 81, C Pujara lbw b Wakhare 114, S Jackson c sub (U Patel) b Wakhare 16, J Shah batting 12, A Vasavada batting 13.
Extras: (b 5, lb 1, nb 5) 11.
Total: (5 wkts; 107 overs) 251.
Fall of wickets: 1-20, 2-20, 3-205, 4-208, 5-227.
Bowling: S Wagh 26-9-54-2 (3nb), R Thakur 25-11-40-0 (1nb), R Dhurv 5-1-21-0, A Wakhare 33-11-61-3, R Jangid 12-3-49-0, F Fazal 6-1-20-0.