Proving that their maiden triumph last year was no “fluke”, the spirited and determined Vidarbha lifted their second successive Ranji Trophy title, the 85th of the coveted trophy , with a comfortable 78-run win over Saurashtra in the final.
Vidarbha needed five wickets to defend their title while Saurashtra, in a chase of 206, were left a mountain to climb after a top-order collapsed the other day . They required 148 runs for their maiden title on the fifth and final day at the VCA stadium.
“Everyone thought it was a fluke when we won last year and we were under pressure to retain the title. But our focus was process, we never bothered about reputation,” Vidarbha’s talismanic coach Chandrakant Pandit said.
The fiercely fought final swung early on but Vidarbha went into the final day with a tight hold on the proceedings and bundled out the visitors for 127 with more than two sessions to spare.
Overnight batsmen Vishvaraj Jadeja (52) and Kamlesh Makvana (14) batted resolutely for the first hour but once the partnership was broken, the end was inevitable for Saurashtra.
Man of the match left-arm spinner Aditya Sarwate claimed three of the five wickets that fell on Thursday, to end with career-best match figures of 11/57. He took six for 59 in the second innings.
It was his maiden haul of 10 or more wickets in a first-class match. He had scalped five batsmen in the first innings.
Sarwate, without doubt, was the star of the match for Vidarbha as he not only took 11 of the 20 Saurashtra wickets with his left-arm spin, his 49-run knock in the second innings played a key role in his side setting the stiff 206-run target.
Vidarbha is only the sixth team in the tournament’s long history to have defended the title.
Mumbai, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Rajasthan and Delhi are the other teams who have managed to win consecutive titles. Saurashtra had ended runners-up to Mumbai in 2012-13 and 2015-16 and again it was a case of so close yet so far for them.
The batting failure of star batsman Cheteshwar Pujara hurt Saurashtra badly. But Vidarbha managed to stay unaffected by Wasim Jaffer’s poor contribution. “People did not know where Vidarbha was but it will not be the case now. It is huge for Vidarbha. The team is doing a great job,” said India pacer Umesh Uadav.
“I never thought I will win two titles with Vidarbha after playing 10 finals (eight with Mumbai),” gushed veteran Jaffer.
