Vidarbha clinch third Ranji Trophy title, beat Kerala on first-innings lead

A magnificent run in domestic cricket this season culminated in a third Ranji Trophy title for Vidarbha on Sunday who defeated Kerala on the basis of firstinnings lead on the fifth and final day of the summit clash at their home groundThe fate of the contest was all but sealed on the third evening when Vidarbha edged ahead with a slender lead of 37 runs in the first innings having dismissed a doughty Kerala for 342 after putting on 379 runs batting firstKerala the firsttime finalists fought hard but Vidarbha were rewarded for their incredible hard work and discipline throughout a season in which they not only clinched the Ranji Trophy but also ended as the runnerup in the 50overs Vijay Hazare TrophyIt is for the third time that Vidarbha have won the Ranji Trophy title having done so earlier with their two consecutive wins in the 201718 and 201819 seasonsVidarbhas win now also makes them one of the strongest outfits in the Indian domestic cricket for they had also finished as the runnerup in the Ranji Trophy last seasonThe team under the captaincy of Akshay Wadkar and head coach Usman Ghani produced dominant performances throughout the Ranji Trophy season which was for the first time in its 90year history split into two halvesVidarbha emerged as the best team across all the four groups in the league stage with six wins in seven matches giving them 40 pointsUnlike Kerala who also had luck on their side in the knockouts when they beat Jammu and Kashmir quarterfinal and Gujarat semifinal by barest of margins and progressed on basis of firstinnings leads Vidarbha grabbed outright winsAlso ReadAnil Kumble feels angle quality variety make South Africas bowling attack completeVidarbha crushed Tamil Nadu last years semifinalists by 198 runs in the quarterfinal and went on to pummel defending champions Mumbai by 80 runs in the semifinalOverall Vidarbha won nine of the 10 matches they played in the Ranji Trophy this season which reflects the dominance of the team in Indias premier domestic competitionOn Sunday Vidarbha did what they had planned to bat bat and bat and reached 375 for nine with Karun Nair making 135 295 balls 10x4s 2x6s Danish Malewar scoring 73 and Darshan Nalkande chipping in with a 51 not outVidarbha resumed the final days play with the contest completely in their control having an overnight lead of 286 runsEven though Nair could only add three more runs to his overnight tally Vidarbha batted for long enough close to the tea break taking their overall lead to 412 runs far beyond the reach of Sachin Babys sideThe triumph was achieved on the back of allround performances which had two of Vidarbhas youngest players taking charge of their teams showings on the fieldThe 22yearold leftarm spinner Harsh Dubey created the record for most wickets in a Ranji Trophy season with 69 dismissals going past the previous record of 68 wickets which belonged to Bihars Ashutosh AmanDubey also implemented the batting tips given by legendary Indian player Ravichandran Ashwin to make 476 runs in 10 matches with five fifties perhaps to show early signs of another spinbowling allrounder in making for IndiaThe 24yearold Yash Rathod a bespectacled lefthanded batter amassed 960 runs at 5333 in 10 matches with five centuries and three fifties to top the charts for batters which had plenty of his teammates as wellThe veteran Nair who had joined Vidarbha for this season not only led their charge in the Vijay Hazare Trophy with five tons but also finished as the fourth highest rungetter in the Ranji Trophy making 863 runs in nine matches at 5393 with four tons and two fifties In the final Nair struck 86 and 135The 21yearold Malewar who struck 153 and 73 in the final finished fifth with 783 runs at 5220 with two tons and six fiftiesNair and Malewar were the architects of Vidarbhas win in the final for they forged partnerships of 215 and 183 runs in the two innings to steer their team out of troubled waters in both the inningsSkipper Wadkar was not too far behind at seventh position with 722 runs in 10 matches at 4512 with two tons and as many fiftiesWadkar told the broadcaster after the match Everyone worked hard throughout and were all very happy Last year we lost the final So we prepared during the monsoon itself Every individual worked on himselfThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever