Vidarbha inch closer to Ranji title

Nagpur: Saurashtra stared down the barrel after Cheteshwar Pujara’s second successive failure that put defending champions Vidarbha on the brink of an encore after a stirring fourth day of the Ranji Trophy final, here Wednesday.
Left-arm spinner Aditya Sarwate once again turned out to be star batsman’s nemesis as he was trapped leg before for nought with Saurashtra tottering at 58 for 5 in their pursuit of 206. Sarwate (3/13 in 10 overs) bamboozled the Saurashtra batsmen after being handed the new ball on a track that offered turn and variable bounce.
Saurashtra were best chasers during the knockout stage but their reliable batsmen came a cropper in the most-important clash. Going into the final day, Saurashtra who have ended runners-up twice in the past, need to score 148 more runs on a tricky track with Vishvaraj Jadeja (23) and Kamlesh Makvana (2) set to resume the chase.
It will be more about the battle of nerves, considering that lower-order batsmen from both the sides have shown that scoring runs is not impossible, if the application is correct.
Earlier, left-arm spinner Dharmendrasinh Jadeja (6/96) had cleaned up the Vidarbha top-order early in the day to hand Saurashtra an advantage but to their credit, the hosts did extremely well to reach 200 after being reduced to 147 for eight. Mohit Kale contributed 38 off 94 balls and Sarwate, batting at number eight, produced a combative 49 after hosts resumed the day at 55 for two.
Sarwate faced 133 balls in his fighting knock and hit five boundaries, negating the good work done by Saurashtra bowlers. Sarwate, who was the last man out in Vidarbha innings, then returned to rattle the Saurashtra top-order with his left-arm spin.
In a mesmerising spell, Sarwate dismissed first innings centurion Snell Patel (12), Harvik Desai (8) and Pujara (0) in his first five overs, and conceded just 13 runs in his 10 that he bowled on the day. Pujara played for the turn only to be adjudged leg before as Sarwate bowled an arm ball.
India pacer Umesh Yadav, who was expensive in his first two overs, returned for a second spell to sent back young Arpit Vasavada (5), who fished one outside off to be caught behind. Sheldon Jackson (7) was guilty of playing a reckless shot as he stepped out to hammer Akshay Wakhare, completely missed the ball and was bowled. At the start of the day, Jadeja came out with a clear plan of bowling wicket-to-wicket on the slow VCA stadium track to register the most significant figures of his first class career, helping Suarashtra bundle out the hosts for an even 200. Jadeja scalped four batsmen, including key man Wasim Jaffer (11) and Ganesh Satish (35), in the first session. (PTI)