In a sensational turnaround, Vidarbha bowled out Gujarat — chasing 73 for victory — for 54 in their Ranji Trophy Group D game in Nagpur on Thursday. It was the lowest target successfully defended in first-class cricket in India. The previous lowest was a target of 78 that Bihar defended against Delhi in Jamshedpur in 1948-49.
Left-arm spinner Aditya Sarwate did the star turn, marking his 50th first-class match with figures of 15.3-6-17-6 after his 5/64 in the first innings for a match haul of 11/81.
On Day 3, Gujarat resumed their second innings on 6/1 but were shot out for 54 inside 31 overs as Vidarbha captain Akshay Wadkar built pressure by rotating his spinners astutely. Left-arm spinner Sarwate was well supported by another left-arm spinner Harsh Dubey, who picked 3/11 in nine overs.
“It is the best match I have ever played, to defend a target of 73 and that also when there wasn’t much help from the pitch. It is a great achievement for us,” said Sarwate.
After being all out for 74 in the first innings, Vidarbha fared better in the second to put on 254 runs on the board. But with just 73 runs to defend in the fourth innings, no one gave the hosts a chance. “Commentators were also saying the same thing in the morning. That Gujarat will jump to so many points with an outright. To win from there is very satisfying," the 33-year-old spinner said after his superb show.
Captain Wadkar's instructions were simple: not to deliver any loose ball and force the batters to commit mistakes if they went for their strokes. It worked. “We knew Priyank Panchal, their main player, was not in the team. They had an inexperienced line-up. Our plan was to bowl in the right areas, the wicket was a little up and down, and we had full faith in our spinners,” said Wadkar.
{{/usCountry}}Captain Wadkar's instructions were simple: not to deliver any loose ball and force the batters to commit mistakes if they went for their strokes. It worked. “We knew Priyank Panchal, their main player, was not in the team. They had an inexperienced line-up. Our plan was to bowl in the right areas, the wicket was a little up and down, and we had full faith in our spinners,” said Wadkar.
{{/usCountry}}Sarwate stuck to his strength of being patient and bowled a disciplined line. “Sarwate doesn’t run after wickets, he just tries to bowl on the spot, forces the batter to keep defending. Consistency is the key to his success,” said the captain.
The Vidarbha skipper kept the batters guessing by rotating his three spinners. The Gujarat batters also played into the spinners’ hands by going into a shell. It helped Sarwate and the others build pressure.
“The ball was gripping from one end and I made Sarwate bowl from there, he got a couple of wickets. When they got a little comfortable, we switched ends. I kept rotating the spinners, used them both in attacking and defensive roles.”
Though off-spinner Akshay Wakhare went wicketless, Sarwate credited his senior bowling partner’s role in building the pressure. “Our plan is the same always. Whoever is having a good day and getting wickets, the other person plays the supporting role. When the opposition don’t get easy runs, they also try something different. It helped a lot today,” said Sarwate.
Vidarbha’s win has kept their hopes of qualifying for the quarter-final alive. They now need to beat Punjab with a bonus point in their last league game. “We have made an impossible match possible, so the morale is high. Punjab is on 26 points and we are now on 19 points, we have to win by a bonus point.”