Ranji Trophy | Lower-order fightback gives Saurashtra fighting chance against Vidarbha
A brilliant 10th wicket partnership between Jaydev Unadkat and Chetan Sakariya reduced Vidarbha’s lead to five runs after the end of the first innings in this year's Ranji Trophy final. As per rules, in the case of a draw after the end of play, the team leading after the first innings is the winner.
Brief scores: Vidarbha 55/2 ( Ganesh Satish 24*, Sanjay Ramaswamy 16; Dharmendrasingh Jadeja 2/36) at the end of Day three.
After losing dangermen, Cheteshwar Pujara and Sheldon Jackson early on in the first innings in the final against Vidarbha, Saurashtra were left in a dilemma and faced an uphill battle if they wished to stay in the final. However, a brilliant batting display from the lower order ensured that they reduced the deficit to just five runs after the end of the first innings.
The credit went to Saurashtra captain, Jaydev Unadkat, and Chetan Sakariya, who stitched together a 10th wicket partnership of 63 runs from 162 balls to keep the pressure on the defending champions at the end of day three in Nagpur on Tuesday. There are six sessions left to play in the final match of this year’s tournament and Saurashtra, who have proved clinical while chasing down fourth innings totals, will certainly fancy their chances.
However, If there is no outright result in a Ranji Trophy knockout match, the team leading after the first innings is the winner. This means that Vidarbha will look to stay at the crease for as long as possible to outplay their counterparts. With two more days left to play, the result could go either way.