Vidarbha stunned Gujarat by defending the lowest score in Ranji Trophy history as the two-time Ranji Trophy winners broke a 74-year-old record. After managing to set up the fourth innings target of 73 runs, the hosts bundled out Gujarat for just 54 runs to snatch a vital 18-run win.
Vidarbha (1st innings): 74 all out
It was a crucial Group D match of the Ranji Trophy 2022/23 season, where the home team Vidarbha won the toss and chose to bat first. However, the home batting completely collapsed for only 74 runs as only the opener Sanjay Raghunath reached the 20-run mark (33). Gujarat’s new-ball partners Chintan Gaja (5/31) and Tejas Patel (5/19) claimed five-wicket hauls in that innings.
Gujarat (1st innings): 256 all out; Vidarbha (2nd innings): 254
In reply, Gujarat scored 256 runs in their first innings. While their opener Aarya Desai scored 88 runs, Aditya Sarwate took five wickets in that innings (5/64).
Trailing by 182 runs before the start of their second innings, Vidarbha were all out for 254 runs to set up the target of 73 runs for their opponents. Middle-order batter Jitesh Sharma played the vital knock of 69 runs, and the Gujarat bowler Siddharth Desai recorded a six-fer (6/74).
Gujarat (2nd innings): 54 all out (Target: 73)
In the fourth innings of the game, Aditya Sarwate claimed a six-fer (6/17) and Harsh Dubey (3/11) also supported him with three wickets to destroy the visitors for 54 runs. While Siddharth Desai scored 18 runs in that innings, Extras (10) were the only other to reach double-digit figures in the batting side.
With that stunning 18-run victory, Vidarbha (defended 72 runs) broke Bihar’s previous Ranji Trophy record of defending the lowest score in the fourth innings (defended 77 runs against Delhi in 1949).
Also Read | Closest Ranji Trophy Final in the History
Defending less than 100 runs in the fourth innings of Ranji Trophy history
Winner | Loser (4th innings batting team) | Target | 4th innings total | Venue | Year |
Vidarbha | Gujarat | 73 | 54 | Nagpur | 2023 |
Bihar | Delhi | 78 | 48 | Jamshedpur | 1949 |
Railways | Uttar Pradesh | 94 | 72 | Lucknow | 2018 |
Also Read | Ranji Trophy all time records list
