Vidarbha 74 (Sanjay 33, Tejas 5-19, Gaja 5-51) and 254 (Jitesh 69, Taide 44, Siddharth 6-74) beat Gujarat 256 (Aarya 88, Merai 40, Sarwate 5-64) and 54 (Siddharth 18, Sarwate 6-17) by 18 runs
Left-arm spinner
Aditya Sarwate picked up 6 for 17 to help Vidarbha bowl out Gujarat for 54 and defend 73 on a dramatic third morning of their Ranji Trophy game in Jamtha. It was the lowest target defended successfully in first-class cricket in India; the previous lowest was 78, defended by
Bihar against Delhi in Jamshedpur in 1948-49.
Jamtha is also the venue for the first India-Australia Test, starting February 9. That game, though, will be played on one of the centre pitches, while this match was played on a side pitch.
On Wednesday,
Siddharth Desai, another left-arm spinner, had taken 6 for 74 to limit Vidarbha to 254. At that time, a Gujarat win looked like a mere formality, even though they went to stumps at 6 for 1.
Sarwate, however, had other ideas. Having taken a five-for in the first innings, he ran through Gujarat’s line-up once again on Thursday. He was supported by
Harsh Dubey, also a left-arm spinner, who took 3 for 11. Siddharth, run out for 18, was the only Gujarat batter to reach the double digits.
Sarwate was named Player of the Match for his career-best haul of 11 for 81.
After their latest victory, Vidarbha are now joint-second with Punjab in Group D. Punjab, though, are likely to claim the sole second spot, having enforced follow-on in their game against table-toppers Madhya Pradesh.
Vidarbha’s final game of the group round is against Punjab, which could decide who make it to the knockouts.
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