Saurashtra stared down the barrel after Cheteshwar Pujara’s second successive failure put defending champion Vidarbha on the brink of an encore in the Ranji Trophy final here on Wednesday.
Vidarbha players exult after picking up the wicket of Saurashtra batsman Cheteshwar Pujara
Nagpur:
Going into the final day, Saurashtra needs to score 148 more runs on a tricky track, with Vishvaraj Jadeja (23) and KamleshMakvana (2) set to resume the chase. Earlier, left-arm spinner Dharmendrasinh Jadeja (6/96) cleaned up the Vidarbha top-order early in the day to hand Saurashtra the advantage. But, the host did extremely well to reach 200 after being reduced to 147 for eight.
Mohit Kale contributed 38 off 94 balls and Sarwate, batting at number eight, produced a combative 49 after the home side resumed the day at 55 for two. Sarwate faced 133 balls in his fighting knock and hit five boundaries, negating the good work done by Saurashtra bowlers.
Sarwate, who was the last man out in the Vidarbha innings, then returned to rattle the Saurashtra top-order with his left-arm spin. In a mesmerising spell, Sarwate dismissed first innings centurion Snell Patel (12), Harvik Desai (8) and Pujara (0) in his first five overs, conceding just 13 runs in his spell.
Pujara played for the turn only to be adjudged leg before as Sarwate bowled an arm ball. India pacer Umesh Yadav, who was expensive in his first two overs, returned for a second spell to send back young Arpit Vasavada (5), who fished one outside off to be caught behind.
Sheldon Jackson (7) was guilty of playing a reckless shot as he stepped out to hammer Akshay Wakhare. He completely missed the ball and was bowled. At the start of the day, Jadeja came out with a clear plan of bowling wicket-to-wicket on the slow VCA Stadium. The spinner registered the most significant figures of his first class career, helping Suarashtra bundle out the host for 200.
On the fourth day, left-arm spinner Aditya Sarwate once again turned out to be the star batsman’s nemesis as he was trapped leg before for nought, with Saurashtra tottering at 58 for five in its pursuit of 206. Sarwate (3/13 in 10 overs) bamboozled the Saurashtra batsmen after being handed the new ball on a track that offered turn and variable bounce.
Going into the final day, Saurashtra needs to score 148 more runs on a tricky track, with Vishvaraj Jadeja (23) and KamleshMakvana (2) set to resume the chase. Earlier, left-arm spinner Dharmendrasinh Jadeja (6/96) cleaned up the Vidarbha top-order early in the day to hand Saurashtra the advantage. But, the host did extremely well to reach 200 after being reduced to 147 for eight.
Mohit Kale contributed 38 off 94 balls and Sarwate, batting at number eight, produced a combative 49 after the home side resumed the day at 55 for two. Sarwate faced 133 balls in his fighting knock and hit five boundaries, negating the good work done by Saurashtra bowlers.
Sarwate, who was the last man out in the Vidarbha innings, then returned to rattle the Saurashtra top-order with his left-arm spin. In a mesmerising spell, Sarwate dismissed first innings centurion Snell Patel (12), Harvik Desai (8) and Pujara (0) in his first five overs, conceding just 13 runs in his spell.
Pujara played for the turn only to be adjudged leg before as Sarwate bowled an arm ball. India pacer Umesh Yadav, who was expensive in his first two overs, returned for a second spell to send back young Arpit Vasavada (5), who fished one outside off to be caught behind.
Sheldon Jackson (7) was guilty of playing a reckless shot as he stepped out to hammer Akshay Wakhare. He completely missed the ball and was bowled. At the start of the day, Jadeja came out with a clear plan of bowling wicket-to-wicket on the slow VCA Stadium. The spinner registered the most significant figures of his first class career, helping Suarashtra bundle out the host for 200.
Brief scores: Vidarbha 312 all-out & 200 all-out (Aditya Sarwate 49, Dharmendrasinh Jadeja 6/96) vs Saurashtra 307 all-out & 58 for 5 (Aditya Sarwate 3/13)