Akshay Wadkar (100, 212b, 9x4) and Nachiket Bhute (97, 111, 6x4, 5x6) hauled Vidarbha to a first-innings lead on the second day of its Ranji Trophy Elite Group A match against Madhya Pradesh at the VCA Jamtha Stadium here.

Resuming on 56 for four, Vidarbha was pushed further back when it lost Dhruv Shorey and Harsh Dubey early in the first session. MP sensed an opportunity, but found itself repelled by Wadkar and Bhute’s counter-attack.

Bhute was the earlier aggressor, sending Saransh Jain and Kumar Kartikeya Singh to the fence repeatedly, while Wadkar manipulated the angles to find gaps in the field.

The duo soon brought the deficit below 100, and Nachiket launched Saransh for another straight six to bring up his half-century in 56 balls in the final over before Lunch.

Post resumption, the pair maintained a quick tempo against seamers Avesh and Ravi Kiran, capitalising on errant bowling, though Nachiket was fortunate to survive a pair of squandered opportunities.

The efficient Wadkar notched up his fifty from 122 balls before Bhute thrashed Kiran through the covers to confirm the host’s first-innings lead.

He reached his highest First-Class score with a six off Saransh but with three figures agonisingly close, MP brought Arshad Khan back and the 26-year-old fiddled behind.

Wadkar also struggled close to his century, and though he reached the milestone from 212 balls, it came at a heavy personal cost. He sealed his ton with a quick single, but injured himself diving and had to be stretchered off the field immediately afterwards.

Darshan Nalkande and Parth Rekhade managed to push Vidarbha’s lead beyond 100 before holing out off Saransh Jain, leaving MP with six overs to bat. However, it lost Yash Dubey just two balls in, leaving it facing a tall task again on Wednesday.

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

Vidarbha — 1st innings: Satyam Bhoyar c Patidar b Kartikeya 8, Aman Mokhade c Chanchal b Kartikeya 0, R. Samarth c Yash b Avesh 17, Dhruv Shorey b Avesh 32, Danish Malewar lbw b Kartikeya 0, Akshay Wadkar retired hurt 100, Harsh Dubey c Kartikeya b Saransh 12, Nachiket Bhute c Purohit b Arshad 97, Darshan Nalkande c & b Saransh 30, Parth Rekhade c sub b Saransh 14, Rajneesh Gurbani (not out) 12; Extras (b-1, lb-9, w-2): 12; Total (for nine wickets in 103.3 overs): 334.

Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-8, 3-34, 4-35, 5-70, 6-87, 7-262, 8-305, 9-334.

Madhya Pradesh bowling: Kartikeya 36-6-106-3, Avesh 18-2-51-2, Saransh 21.3-3-77-3, Ravi 16-3-47-0, Arshad 10-1-33-1, Shubham 2-0-10-0.

Madhya Pradesh — 2nd innings: Yash Dubey c Harsh b Rekhade 4, Saksham Purohit (batting) 14, Atharva Mahajan (batting) 1; Total (for one wkt. in six overs): 19.

Fall of wicket: 1-4.

Vidarbha bowling: Rekhade 2-0-6-1, Harsh 3-1-5-0, Gurbani 1-0-8-0.