Vidarbha script a historic victory

MUMBAI: In a sensational turnaround, Vidarbha bowled out Gujarat — chasing 73 for victory — for 54 in their Ranji Trophy Group D game in Nagpur on Thursday. It was the lowest target successfully defended in first-class cricket in India. The previous lowest was a target of 78 that Bihar defended against Delhi in Jamshedpur in 1948-49.

It may be noted that the first Test between India and Australia will be played at Nagpur from February 9.

Left-arm spinner Aditya Sarwate did the star turn, marking his 50th first-class match with figures of 15.3-6-17-6 after his 5/64 in the first innings for a match haul of 11/81.

On Day 3, Gujarat resumed their second innings on 6/1 but were shot out for 54 inside 31 overs as Vidarbha captain Akshay Wadkar built pressure by rotating his spinners astutely.

Left-arm spinner Sarwate was well supported by another leftarm spinner Harsh Dubey, who picked 3/11 in nine overs.

“It is the best match I have ever played, to defend a target of 73 and that also when there wasn’t much help from the pitch. It is a great achievement for us,” said Sarwate.

After being all out for 74 in the first innings, Vidarbha fared better in the second to put on 254 runs. But with just 73 runs to defend in the fourth innings, no one gave them a chance. “Commentators were also saying the same thing in the morning. That Gujarat will jump to so many points with an outright. To win from there is very satisfying,” the 33-year-old spinner said.

Captain Wadkar’s instructions were simple: not to deliver any loose ball and force the batters to commit mistakes if they went for their strokes. It worked. “We knew Priyank Panchal, their main player, was not in the team. They had an inexperienced line-up. Our plan was to bowl in the right areas, the wicket was a little up and down, and we had full faith in our spinners,” said Wadkar.

Sarwate stuck to his strength of being patient. “Sarwate doesn’t run after wickets. Consistency is the key to his success,” said the captain. The win has kept Vidarbha’s quarter-final hopes alive. They need to beat Punjab with a bonus point in their last league game.

Brief scores Vidarbha 74 and 254 beat Gujarat 256 and 54 in 33.1 overs (S Desai 18; A Sarwate 6/17, H Dubey 3/11) by 18 runs.

YEAR

TEAM VIDARBHA BIHAR RAILWAYS

OPPONENT GUJARAT DELHI UTTAR PRADESH

TARGET