Ranji Trophy final: Vidarbha manage slim lead after Unadkat heroics with bat

In keeping with the script of the match, the game took another turn on Tuesday morning just when it looked that Vidarbha would take a big first-innings lead

Saurashtra captain Jaydev Unadkat put the sweep shot to good use against spin and, along with fellow pacer Chetan Sakariya, displayed determination in the face of intimidating fast bowling from Umesh Yadav to bring Saurashtra within five runs of Vidarbha’s first innings total before falling to the sweep himself.

Saurashtra captain Jaydev Unadkat plays a shot on Day 3 of the Ranji Trophy final. (PTI)

The two, who came in with Saurashtra at 247/9, added 60 runs for the last wicket before a cautious Vidarbha went to stumps at 55/2, an overall lead of 60.

In keeping with the script of the match, the game took another turn on Tuesday morning just when it looked that Vidarbha would take a big first-innings lead.

Umesh, who has been sidelined from the ODI series in Australia and New Zealand, bowled with venom, hitting the batsmen in the arm, head and finger.

It was enough to unnerve them and even send centurion, the Saurashtra wicketkeeper-batsman Snell Patel to hospital for an MRI. Patel was hit on the helmet when he was on 94. Soon after, at 102, the shaken Patel was drawn into edging Umesh’s delivery to the keeper. The MRI report came out fine although he didn’t come out to keep wickets.

Before Patel’s dismissal, Umesh had hit the other overnight batsman Prerak Mankad in the arm. Soon after, he too fell leg-before to left-arm spinner Aditya Sarwate.

“There was not much in the wicket. The spinners didn’t get much purchase in the first half. Umesh had pace and was short and aggressive,” said off-spinner Akshay Wakhare who took four wickets. Sarwate finished with a fifer.

At 184/7, Vidarbha were set for a big lead. But just like their tail on the second morning, the opposition’s wagged as well. The eighth wicket added 38 and the ninth 22. The hosts, who were letting the game drift away, still had a decent lead in sight (247/9) but then Sakariya (28 off 82), who has played a couple of good innings on spin-friendly tracks in U-23 games this season, hung around for 117 minutes — almost a session — with Unadkat (46 off 101 balls).

That Vidarbha took the new ball immediately after the 80th over helped in getting quick runs.

The first six overs with the second new ball fetched 30 runs and at the end of the extended first session, the visitors were 284/9. Post-lunch, Vidarbha kept it tight and tried to keep a line outside the off to Unadkat.

There were some nervy moments as tight bowling coupled with cautious batting made run-making difficult. The strategy to keep it outside off worked as Unadkat swept one off Wakhare straight to short square leg.

The first session on the fourth day will be important as two of Vidarbha’s professionals with a combined experience of 14 Ranji finals — Wasim Jaffer and G Satish — will hope to consolidate the lead and set a decent target to a team that has chased down steep totals in the fourth innings in their quarter-finals and semi-finals.