Vidarbha won their first ever Ranji Trophy title after beating Delhi by nine wickets in the final. After asking Delhi to bat and bowling them out for 295, Vidarbha put on a mammoth 547 on the board thanks to a fine century by wicketkeeper-batsman Akshay Wadkar and four other fifties.
Delhi’s second innings went no better than their first as they were reduced to 234/8 on Saturday, before a late counterattack by Vikas Mishra and Akshay Sudan saved them from an innings defeat. However, the rearguard could only ensure a 28-run lead for Delhi in the second innings, which was easily chased down by Vidarbha to get their hands on the trophy.
This was Vidarbha’s first Ranji title, but it was veteran batsman Wasim Jaffer’s ninth after contesting as many finals. His eight previous winner’s medals were secured while playing for 41-time champions Mumbai. It was therefore poetic when Jaffer took Vidarbha home with two back-to-back boundaries.
While fast bowler Rajneesh Gurbani was Delhi’s main tormentor in the first innings, taking 6/59 including a hat-trick, it was off-break bowler Akshay Wakhare’s turn to shine in the second as he took 4/95. Left-arm orthodox spinner Aditya Sarwate also chipped in with 3/30. Gurbani was eventually adjudged man of the match after taking eight wickets across both innings.
Brief scores:
Delhi 295 and 280 (Nitish Rana 64, Dhruv Shorey 62; Akshay Wakhare 4/95, Aditya Sarwate 3/30) lost to Vidarbha 547 (Akshay Wadkar 133, Aditya Sarwate 79, Wasim Jaffer 78; Navdeep Saini 5/135) and 32/1 (Wasim Jaffer 17*) by 9 wickets.
