Aditya Sarwate put on an all-round display to give Vidarbha the edge at the end of day four of their Ranji Trophy final against Saurashtra.
Vidarbha looked on course to another Ranji Trophy title as Aditya Sarwate put on an all-round performance to give them the edge at the end of day four of their Ranji Trophy final against Saurashtra.
Aditya Sarwate batted with great tenacity to score a valuable 49 helping his team set a competitive target of 206 and then followed it up with a game-changing spell with the ball. He took three wickets in two overs as going through Saurashtra's top-order including the prize wicket of Cheteshwar Pujara for a duck on Wednesday.
Saurashtra were 58/5 at stumps, needing 148 runs more to win, at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur. While Vidarbha hold all aces going into the final day of Ranji Trophy 2018-19 as Saurashtra will hope for a miraculous performance for their lower middle order on Thursday. Their hopes lie with Vishvaraj Jadeja who was unbeaten 23* with Kamlesh Makvana (2*) at the close of play.
Earlier, Vidarbha were bowled out for 200 on day four after resuming their innings at 55 for two. The hosts led by 60 runs with reliable Wasim Jaffer (5) and Ganesh Satish (24) at the crease.
However, Dharmendrasinh Jadeja accounted for both of them while Jaydev Unadkat removed Akshay Wadkar as Vidarbha lost half their side for 73. Akshay Karnewar and Mohit Kale took the lead past 100 before Kamlesh Makvana has Karnewar. Vidarbha were 126/6 at Lunch with a lead of 131 runs.
Makvana got the wicket of Kale (38) after lunch Wakhare fell to Jadeja for 1. Umesh Yadav scored 15 runs from 12 balls before being bowled by Chetan Sakariya with Vidarbha at 178/9.
Sarwate kept playing his shots at the other end as he took Vidarbha to 200. Sarwate fell one run short of his fifty as Dharmendrasinh Jadeja got his sixth wicket in the innings.
Chasing a target of 206, Saurashtra were dealt the first blow by Sarwate as he sent back Snell Patel for just 12. Sarwate the got the wicket of Harvik Desai in his next over to make it 22/2.
Sarwate claimed the big wicket of Pujara in the same over as the India No. 3 fell for a duck. Pujara scored a total of one run in the Ranji Trophy final.
Umesh Yadav then got Vasavada (5) to make it 35/4 after 18 overs. Sheldon Jackson departed for 7 as with 55 runs on the board.
Saurashtra have chased successfully in their last two matches. However, it will be tough task given the potency of Vidarbha attack.
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