Vidarbha smell victory

Nagpur, February 6 

Vidarbha have put themselves in pole position to retain the title by blunting Saurashtra’s challenge on the fourth day of the Ranji Trophy final here today. Star India batsman Cheteshwar Pujara failed for the second successive time as left-arm spinner Aditya Sarwate once again turned out to be his nemesis, trapping him leg-before for a duck. Chasing 206 to lay their hands on the Ranji Trophy, Saurashtra were tottering at 58/5 at the draw of stumps. Sarwate (3/13) was the wrecker-in-chief, also accounting for the wickets of Snell Patel, who scored a hundred in the first essay, and Harvik Desai. Heading into the final day, Saurashtra need to score 148 more runs, with Vishvaraj Jadeja (23) and Kamlesh Makvana (2) at the crease.

Sarwate shines with bat too

Earlier, left-arm spinner Dharmendrasinh Jadeja (6/96) cleaned up the Vidarbha top-order to hand Saurashtra an advantage but the hosts held on to reach 200 after being reduced to 147/8. Mohit Kale contributed 38 off 94 balls and Sarwate, batting at No. 8, scored 49 after the hosts resumed the day at 55/2. 

Sarwate then starred with the ball too, rattling the Saurashtra top-order with his left-arm spin. He dismissed Patel (12), Desai (8) and Pujara (0) in his first five overs, leaking just 13 runs in the 10 overs he bowled on the day. Pujara played for the turn, only to be adjudged leg-before as Sarwate bowled an arm-ball. India pacer Umesh Yadav had young Arpit Vasavada (5) caught behind, and Sheldon Jackson (7) was cleaned up by Akshay Wakhare.  

Jadeja rocks hosts 

For Saurashtra, Jadeja scalped four batsmen, including key man Wasim Jaffer (11) and Ganesh Satish (35), in the first session. Off-spinner Kamlesh Makvana sent back the dangerous Akshay Karnewar (18). Jadeja took two more wickets in the post-lunch session to complete his six-wicket haul. — IANS 

Brief scores:  Vidarbha 312 & 200 (Sarwate 49; Dharmendrasinh 6/96); Saurashtra 307 & 58/5 (Vishvaraj 23*; Sarwate 3/13)