Jaipur: Vidarbha proved why they are regarded as the best in-form team in the country when they registered a sensational come-from-behind 221-run victory against Rajasthan in the Ranji Trophy Elite Group B match at the KL Saini Stadium here on Sunday.
By recording the fifth win in their six league matches so far, two-time Ranji champions Vidarbha not only retained their top spot in their Group B standings, but they are also topping all four Elite groups together with maximum 34 points to their credit.
For the second time in the season, Vidarbha won the match after conceding a first innings lead. Against Andhra in their season-opener in Nagpur, Vidarbha won by 74 runs despite trailing by 49 runs in the first innings.
Jammu and Kashmir, who are leading the Group A with 29 points, are placed second overall in the tally with four wins, the last one came against 42-time champions Mumbai in their own backyard.
The humiliating defeat ended Rajasthan's campaign this season. Prior to this tie, they needed to beat Vidarbha and then post a win in their last away game against Andhra to stake their claim for the knockout berth.
Mahipal Lomror-led side did everything right on the first two days of the match and were poised to win after reducing Vidarbha to 84 for 4 in their second innings.
However, the match slipped from their hands when Vidarbha batsmen Akshay Wadkar, Yash Rathod and Nachiket Bhute batted with determination to script a dramatic fightback.
Skipper Wadkar, who completed his hundred on the final ball of Day 3, continued his run-scoring spree to out bat the hosts on Sunday. Wadkar's marathon innings finally came to an end when he was bowled by left-arm spinner Ajay Kukna. The wicketkeeper-batsman scored 139 off 269 balls, studded with 14 fours and a six.
His massive 172-run partnership with Nachiket Bhute for the eighth wicket finished Rajasthan's hopes of a much-needed win. Bhute notched up his highest score in First-Class cricket with 125-ball 87. The tall Vidarbha youngster hammered six boundaries and three sixes to help Vidarbha declare at 428 for 9 in their second innings, midway through the opening session.
Chasing a mammoth target of 329 in just over two sessions, it looked Rajasthan would easily draw the match to end up with bagging three points on the basis of their 100-run first innings lead.
However, Vidarbha had other plans. They went all out and bundled out the hosts before tea-break. At one stage, Rajasthan were sitting pretty with 41/1 but lost their last nine wickets for the addition of just 66 runs.
Barring openers Zubair Ali (22) and Abhijeet Tomar (19), rest of the batsmen failed to apply themselves on a flat pitch. The dismal run of professional Deepak Hooda (10) continued as he offered a simple catch to mid-off fielder Yash Rathod off Harsh Dubey.
The left-arm spinner went on to grab another five-wicket haul to return with a match figures of 10 for 132. Dubey is now the leading wicket-taker in the Ranji Trophy with 47 wickets under his belt.
Veteran off-spinner Akshay Wakhare bounced back in the second innings to claim 3 wickets conceding mere two runs.
Coach Usman Ghani was elated after Vidarbha's amazing win and lauded the efforts of the entire team for fighting spirit.
"We believed in ourselves and did the job. Full marks to boys for the way they fought after the below-par first couple of days. Akshay Wadkar led from the front to turn the match on its head with his magnificent batting display. Yash Rathod and Nachiket Bhute showed a lot of character and raised their hands when the team needed them the most," said Ghani while talking to reporters after the end of the match.
Vidarbha will play their last match against Hyderabad in Nagpur from January 30.
"This has been a dream season for us so far. We did well in both red ball and white ball cricket. We were a bit unlucky not to win the Vijay Hazare Trophy final against Karnataka. Recording five wins in six Ranji matches so far was special. We want to maintain this splendid run in the knockouts too. Players like Harsh Dubey, Wadkar and Yash Rathod are ready for national duty now. The phenomenal performance of Karun Nair inspires others in the team," added Ghani.
Brief scores
Vidarbha 165 and 428/9 declared in 138.1 overs (Akshay Wadkar 139, Yash Rathod 98, Nachiket Bhute 87, Dhruv Shorey 33; Ajay Singh Kukna 5-104, Manav Suthar 2-121, Khaleel Ahmed 1-69, Aniket Choudhary 1-77) beat Rajasthan 265 and 107 in 43.3 overs (Zubair Ali 22, Abhijeet Tomar 19; Harsh Dubey 5-51, Akshay Wakhare 3-2, Shubham Kapse 1-1, Aditya Thakare 1-28) by 221 runs.
Player of the match: Akshay Wadkar
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