High-flying Vidarbha lift their second consecutive Ranji Trophy
Vidarbha sealed a 78-run victory over Saurashtra to win the final of Ranji Trophy 2018-19 edition. The victory saw Vidarbha lift the coveted domestic trophy for the second time in a row. Left-arm orthodox spinner Aditya Sarwate was the star of the show. After taking 5/98 in the first innings, Sarwate decimated Saurashtra by picking up six wickets in the second one.
Vidarbha scored 312 in the first innings with Akshay Karnewar hitting a sublime 73. A 102-run knock from Snell Patel, saw Saurashtra get to 307. Dharmendrasinh Jadeja kept Saurashtra in the game with a brilliant performance of 6/96, as Vidarbha set a target of 206. Saurashtra failed to apply themselves and eventually folded for 127. Only four batsmen got to double digits.
A lot was expected from Cheteshwar Pujara, but the senior Indian cricketer failed to inspire Saurashtra. Pujara had earlier helped his side reach the final. But in the pivotal battle, he was dismissed for one and nought. Sarwate took his wicket on both occasions.
Vidarbha equalled a host of sides as they won two Ranji Trophy in a row. Mumbai lead the show with 41 title wins out of 46 final appearances. Meanwhile, Vidarbha's veteran batsman, Wasim Jaffer won his 10th career Ranji Trophy title. Interestingly, he has appeared in 10 finals. The former Mumbai player had joined Vidarbha in 2015. It is his second title with Vidarbha.
"It feels unreal. Behind all this there is a lot of hard work from each and everyone. It is different, first time is always special but we had to work really hard this season," said Vidarbha's captain Faiz Fazal.
Sikkim's Milind Kumar ended as the highest run-scorer of the Ranji Trophy 2018-19 season (1,331 runs). He also smashed the most number of tons this term (6). Jaffer ended up as the second highest run-getter (1,037). Ashutosh Aman of Bihar picked up the highest number of wickets (68). Vidarbha's Sarwate is third on the list with 55 scalps.
