Vidarbha turn a new leaf

Indore, January 2

Vidarbha scripted a new chapter in the region’s cricket history by winning their maiden Ranji Trophy, comfortably defeating Delhi by nine wickets in the final.
Set a measly target of 29 for victory, Vidarbha finished the task in just five overs at the Holkar Stadium that had welcomed with open arms the family members of the cricketers.
After Wasim Jaffer, one of the three professionals in the side, pulled Kulwant Khejroliya towards the fine-leg boundary, the team broke into a joyous huddle, gave each other bear hugs and soon clicked pictures with the trophy.
The victory chant followed as elated Vidarbha captain Fazal hugged his mother and held his daughter aloft in arms. He then gave a high-five to his mother before looking around for his father, who too stood there happily. Winning the Ranji title is not new for Jaffer, as he has been a part of Mumbai’s nine triumphs, but it was the first time he hit the winning runs.
That the tournament ended in a triumph for Fazal, who has been there for 15 seasons, was appropriate as he led the side from the front, scoring nearly 900 runs this season.
Opting to field first, Vidarbha bowled out Delhi for 295 in the first innings with Man of the Match Rajneesh Gurbani picking up six wickets.
In reply, Vidarbha notched up a mammoth 547 all out as Akshay Wadkar struck his maiden century in first-class cricket. Vidarbha were 528/7 overnight, with Wadkar unbeaten on 133, and Delhi picked up the remaining three wickets in the morning. Young pacer Navdeep Saini was the most successful bowler for Delhi, returning figures of 5/135 after bowling 36.3 overs. Delhi were a bowler short through Vidarbha’s first innings as left-arm spinner Manan Sharma remained off the field due to a knee injury.
In their second innings, Delhi were all out for 280, with Shorey scoring another half-century — a 142-ball 62 — while Nitish Rana struck 64. Vidarbha chased down the target with plenty to spare at a stadium which was hosting the title clash of the country’s premier domestic tournament for the second successive time after hosting Mumbai- Gujarat final last season.
Trailing by 252 runs, Delhi lost opener Kunal Chandela with just 32 runs on the board. Gautam Gambhir was adjudged out LBW off Gurbani to a ball that seemed to be heading down the leg side. The out-of-favour India opener looked in good touch during his 36 runs off 37 balls (32 runs coming off boundaries), and could have helped Delhi’s cause, had he stayed longer.
First-innings centurion Shorey and Rana then added 110 runs for the third wicket. However, Delhi lost Shorey, who was earlier given a reprieve by Jaffer in the first slip, to the left-arm spin of Aditya Sarwate. Rana followed suit as he nicked Gurbani to Wadkar behind the stumps.
And then came a reckless shot by skipper Rishabh Pant (32), an attempted heave off Siddhesh Neral leading to his dismissal as Delhi ran out of batting options. This was an over after Pant was let off by Wadkar, who missed an easy stumping chance.
A few lusty blows by Vikas Mishra and Akash Sudan helped Delhi erase the deficit, make Vidarbha bat again and avoid the ignominy of being handed an innings defeat in the title clash.
For a change, Fazal got out early but Jaffer, who has been playing the role of mentor alongside coach Chandrakant Pandit, was there to guide the side home.
Brief Scores: Delhi: 295 and 280 (Rana 64, Shorey 62; Wakhare 4/95, Sarwate 3/30); Vidarbha: 547 and 32/1 (Jaffer 17*).