Aditya Sarvate single-handedly put Vidarbha on the brink of defending its Ranji Trophy title. His rescue act with the willow (49 off 133b, 154m, 5x4) meant Vidarbha’s lower order staged its second fightback of the match to set Saurashtra target of 206 on a deteriorating VCA Stadium surface.
The spinner then followed it up by breaking the back of Saurashtra’s batting picking up three wickets — including the big wicket of Cheteshwar Pujara for a duck — to send the visiting team reeling at 55 for five at the end of the penultimate day’s play.
Vidarbha will thus start the last day five wickets shy of lifting the coveted trophy while opener Vishvarajsinh Jadeja along with Sauashtra’s lower order will have a daunting task of scoring 148 runs to avoid a hat-trick of defeats in a Ranji final.
Had it not been for Sarvate’s sensible batting, Vidarbha would have struggled to set a challenging target. Starting the day at 55 for two, with a lead of 60, overnight batsmen Wasim Jaffer and Ganesh Satish found it difficult to keep the scoreboard moving. And the run-scoring became increasingly difficult as the day progressed with bowlers dominating for almost the whole day.
Jaffer and Ganesh survived for a while but Vidarbha lost three wickets for two runs in 19 balls staring at 73 for five.
In-form left-arm spinner Dharmendrasinh Jadeja forced Jaffer to chase one away from his body and then induced an inside-edge on to the pad off Ganesh’s willow to silly point (although the umpire had initially adjudged him lbw).
In the next over, skipper Jaydev Unadkat bowled a full delivery that angled in and shaped away after pitching to uproot Akshay Wadkar’s off-stump.
When Sarvate took to the crease minutes before lunch, after leftie Akshay Karnewar’s attempted drive off offie Kamlesh Makwana was scooped in the slips, Vidarbha was 110 for six, far from being safe.
Sarvate batted with the tail and frustrated the Saurashtra batsmen before falling to Jadeja one run short of a fifty.
After the tea break, Sarvate was into the action straightaway opening the bowling. And his three wickets in 11 balls took the fight out Saurashtra’s chase. He first drew Snell Patel to nick to Jaffer at slips in the seventh over. In the next over, Harvik Desai’s attempt drive against the spin resulted in an easy return catch.
Four balls later came the big scalp of Pujara, who played for the turn but the ball held its line, to find himself plumb in front.
At 22 for three, Saurashtra needed Arpit Vasavada to stabilise the innings.
But Umesh Yadav’s fuller length resulted in the leftie offering a dolly to ’keeper Wadkar.
Sheldon Jackson then compounded Saurashtra’s woes, attempting a reckless heave off Akshay Wakhare to be bowled with less than four overs remaining in the day’s play.
