Vidarbha registered a nervy three-wicket win over Jammu and Kashmir in the Ranji Trophy on Tuesday, but it was not before being given a scare at the Sher-i-Kashmir Cricket Stadium in Srinagar.
For the longest time, it seemed that the Paras Dogra-led side would do the unthinkable and defend the joint second-lowest total in Ranji Trophy history; however, Harsh Dubey and Nachiket Bhute had other plans.
When J&K folded up for 123 in their second innings, not many would have given the defending champions a chance of making it a tight game after setting a target of just 79. However, Sunil Kumar and Umar Nazir came out firing, reducing Vidarbha to 26/5.
Things then went from bad to worse for Vidarbha as captain Akshay Wadkar was run out by Qamran Iqbal, and Vidarbha were left reeling at 26/6, still 53 runs away from the target. Dubey and Mandar Mahale then frustrated J&K, and the duo chipped away slowly and steadily, taking Vidarbha to 48/6 at tea on Day 3, with the team being 31 runs away from a win.
Immediately after the tea break, Sunil Kumar ended the seventh-wicket stand, dismissing Mahale for 25, and the match once again hung in the balance. Bhute then joined Dubey in the middle, and the duo battled nerves to take Vidarbha over the line in the final session on Day 3. Dubey and Bhute remained unbeaten on 22 and 13. For J&K, Sunil Kumar returned with four wickets while Umar Nazir took two.
Overall, the record for the lowest score defended in Ranji belongs to Vidarbha, who had defended 73 against Gujarat in the 2022-23 season. Back in the 1948/49 season, Bihar had won the match against Delhi by defending 78 and had J&K pulled off a heist against Vidarbha, they would have joined a prestigious list.
First innings advantage
The contest between the defending champions J&K and Vidarbha began with the latter winning the toss and opting to bowl. Nachiket Bhute was the pick of the Vidarbha bowlers, taking three wickets, while Rajneesh Gurbani and Yash Thakur took two each as Vidarbha bowled out J&K for 260. Kawalpreet Singh was the standout batter for J&K, scoring 96 runs.
Vidarbha went on to take a 45-run lead as opening batter Ravikumar Samarth (143) took the team to 305. Nazir and Sunil were the leading wicket-takers in the first innings as well, taking four wickets apiece.
However, the game changed tide in the second innings when J&K folded up for 123 in the second innings. Nachiket Bhute’s fifer broke the batting lineup of the reigning champions, and the hosts were able to set only a 79-run target. The situation would have been all the worse had Abdul Samad and Qamran Iqbal not chipped in with knocks of 39 and 38.
Brief Scores: Vidarbha 305 and 81/7 (H Dubey 22*, N Bhute 13*, S Kumar 4/30) beat J&K 260 and 123 all out by three wickets.
