Vidarbha break 74-year-old record to defend lowest-ever total in Ranji Trophy history

Defending
a
paltry
73
on
the
third
day
in
the
Group
D
match,
a
spirited
effort
from
Vidarbha
bowlers
helped
them
bundle
Gujarat
out
for
54.

Left-arm
spinner
Aditya
Sarwate
grabbed
a
match
haul
of
11
wickets.
Their
defence
of
73
is
the
lowest
total
successfully
defended
in
first-class
cricket
in
India.

Vidarbha
have
broken
a
74-year-old
record
as
they’ve
bettered
Bihar’s
78
against
Delhi
in
Jamshedpur
way
back
in
the
1948-49
season.

The
third-lowest
total
defended
in
Ranji
Trophy
history
is
94
when
Railways
restricted
Uttar
Pradesh
inside
90
in
2017.

A
concern
for
Border-Gavaskar
Trophy

At
a
venue
where
India’s
opening
Test
against
Australia
is
slated
to
be
played
in
less
than
a
month’s
time,
the
match
witnessed
15
wickets
tumbling
on
day
one,
followed
by
16
on
the
next
day.

Vidarbha
vs
Gujarat
–
As
it
happened

The
Ranji
Trophy
game
was
played
on
a
side
pitch,
while
the
Test
would
be
played
on
one
of
the
centre
strips.
Chasing
a
paltry
73,
Gujarat
resumed
their
second
innings
on
six
for
one
but
were
shot
out
for
54
runs
inside
31
overs
on
the
third
day
morning
with
Sarwate
once
again
running
through
their
line-up
with
stunning
figures
of
15.3-6-17-6
to
complement
his
first
innings’
5/64.

Sarwate,
who
returned
with
a
career-best
match
haul
of
11/81,
was
complemented
well
by
another
left-arm
spinner
in
Harsh
Dubey
(9-1-11-3).
Siddharth
Desai,
who
batted
on
No.
3,
was
the
only
Gujarat
batter
to
reach
a
double-digit
score
(18)
and
was
dismissed
by
a
run-out.

Electing
to
bat,
Vidarbha’s
first
innings
folded
for
74
in
30.3
overs
at
the
stroke
of
lunch
on
day
one,
with
the
Gujarat
pace
duo
of
Chintan
Gaja
and
Tejas
Patel
grabbing
five
wickets
each.

Gujarat
scored
256
in
their
first
innings,
taking
a
lead
of
182
runs.
Vidarbha
put
up
a
strong
fight
in
their
second
essay
with
Jitesh
Sharma
leading
the
show
with
a
53-ball
69,
while
no.
9
batter
Nachiket
Bhute
also
contributed
a
significant
42
off
66
balls.

Gujarat’s
Siddharth
Desai,
left-arm
orthodox
spinner,
was
their
wrecker-in-chief
as
he
returned
with
6/74
to
bundle
out
Vidarbha
for
254
and
a
win
seemed
formality
for
the
visitors
with
a
small
target
of
73.
But
Sarwate
had
other
ideas
as
Gujarat
batters
fell
like
nine
pins
on
an
eventful
third
day
morning
as
Vidarbha
bagged
six
points
from
the
match
to
move
to
a
joint-second
place
with
Punjab.

Brief
Scores:
Vidarbha
74
and
254.
Gujarat
256
and
54;
33.3
overs
(Siddharth
Desai
18;
Aditya
Sarwate
6/17,
Harsh
Dubey
3/11).
Vidarbha
won
by
18
runs.
Points:
Vidarbha
6,
Gujarat
0.

(With
PTI
inputs)