Vidarbha completed back-to-back triumphs in the Ranji Trophy as they defeated Saurashtra by 78 runs on the fifth and final day in Nagpur on Thursday.
Aditya Sarwate was the wrecker-in-chief once again as he finished with figures of 6/59 to follow up his first innings five-for.
Sarwate became the first man since BS Chandrasekhar in 1977/78 to register a five-wicket haul in each innings of the Ranji Trophy final. It was his maiden 10-wicket haul in first class cricket.
Resuming at 58/5, the visitors, who had chased down two big scores in their last two matches, faced a daunting task on the final day but Vishvaraj Jadeja and Kamalesh Makvana negotiated the early pressure, putting the bad balls away. The 33-run partnership came to an end when Makvana was beaten by a straighter one from Sarwate. Prerak Mankad was soon out leg before wicket, though television replays showed that the ball him him outside the line of off-stump.
Vishavaraj Jadeja reached his half century and was Saurashtra’s last hope but he fell attempting the sweep shot (the shot that brought about the dismissal of quite a few Saurashtra batsmen) and that pretty much sealed the fate for the visitors. With captain Unadkat’s wicket, Sarwate completed his six-wicket haul.
It was Akshay Wakhare who picked up the final wicket, and Sarwate fittingly played a part too as he caught a top edge off Dharmendrasinh Jadeja.
Earlier, on day four, Sarwate had 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.