Vidarbha defeated Gujarat by 18 runs in the ongoing Ranji Trophy 2022-23 and created history. Left-arm spinner Aditya Sarwate shined for Vidarbha in their record win and picked up an 11-wicket match haul.
On the third day of the match in Nagpur, Vidarbha bowled out Gujarat for just 54 runs and successfully defended 73, which is the lowest defended total in the history of first-class cricket in India. Previously in 1948-49, Bihar safeguarded 78 against Delhi in Jamshedpur.
Vidarbha won the toss and elected to bat first, but the decision backfired for them as they were bundled out for just 74 on the board. Five of Vidarbha’s batters returned to the pavilion without adding a run. The only batter to have played well for them was opener Sanjay Raghunath who scored 33 runs. Meanwhile, Chintan Gaja and Tejas Patel picked up five wickets each for Gujarat.
In reply, Gujarat batted decently, with opener Aarya Desai scoring 88. However, they were bowled out at a score of 256, gaining a lead of 182 runs, while Sarwate took five wickets for Vidarbha.
Coming to bat again on Day 2 after a patchy first inning, Vidarbha started well this time but only managed to secure a lead of 73 runs and lost all their wickets at 254 in 65.5 overs. Jitesh Sharma (69) and Atharva Taide (44) contributed to the team’s total.
With just 73 runs to defend, Vidarbha resumed the fourth innings on Day 3, and what almost seemed impossible was accomplished with the help of Sarwate’s six-wicket haul. Gujarat were restricted to a mere 54, and Vidarbha won the contest. Sidharth Desai (18) was the only Gujarat batter to reach a double-digit score.
Surprisingly the match between Vidarbha and Gujarat saw a fall of 40 wickets in 3 days. Notably, the same venue will host the first match of the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2023.
