At stumps Harsh Dubey was unbeaten on 69 and Aditya Thakare on 5 when play ended for the day with Vidarbha's score reading 261/8
Earlier in the morning Vidarbha got off to a disastrous start after winning the toss, losing four wickets for 14 runs. First on the very second delivery , Vidarbha suffered a blow when last match centurion Atharva Taide departed scoring just two runs. Young Aman Mokhade and experienced Karun Nair too didn't last long and thus Vidarbha lost three wickets for just four runs. Pondicherry pacers Gourav Yadav and Sagar Udeshi trigged the collapse capitalising on early moisture and freehness of wicket. On the score of 14, Vidarbha lost openning batter Dhruv Shorey (6). After initial hiccputs, Rathod (118) and captain Akshay Wadkar (31) stemmed the rot with a 65-run partnership for the fifth wicket. Akshay Karnewar then added 50 runs more in Rathod's company to stabilise the innings. But it was a 120-run partnership between Harsh Dubey and Rathod that put Vidarbha in a comfortable position. Centurion Rathod was got rid of by Fabid Ahmed with 249 runs were on board. For Pondicherry, Gourav Yadav got three wickets for 57 runs whereas Sagar Udeshi and Fabid Ahmed got two each conceding 40 and 51 runs respectively.
Vidarbha made three changes. Akshay Karnewar, Praful Hinge and Dhruv Shorey came in place of Umesh Yadav, Nachiket Bhute and Danish Malewar.
Brief scores (At close Day 1)
Vidarbha 1st innings 261/8 in 83 overs (Yash Rathod 118, Akshay Wadkar 31, Harsh Dubey 69 batting; Gourav Yadav 3/57)
Pondicherry yet to bat