New Delhi, Feb 21 Left-arm spin bowling all-rounder Harsh Dubey picked a five-wicket haul as Vidarbha entered their second consecutive Ranji Trophy final after beating defending champions Mumbai by 80 runs in Nagpur.
Vidarbha, who were the Ranji Trophy runners-up last year, will host Kerala in the title clash happening from February 26 in Nagpur. In the morning, Kerala reached their first-ever Ranji Trophy final by the slimmest of margins against Gujarat in Ahmedabad.
Gujarat needed three runs to achieve the all-important first innings lead, but Arzan Nagwaswalla went for a lofted drive and was caught by Sachin Baby at first slip after the ball ricocheted off Salman Nizar's head at short leg.
It meant Kerala bowled out Gujarat for 455, as they took the first innings lead by two runs, which was enough for them to take the Ranji Trophy final. Kerala had previously taken a one-run lead against Jammu and Kashmir in the quarter-final in Pune. Eventually, the game ended in a draw as Kerala made 114/4 in second innings, with Jalaj Saxena unbeaten on 37.
In Nagpur, victory was a foregone conclusion for Vidarbha from the time day five began. Shivam Dube, Suryakumar Yadav and Akash Anand fell without doing much as Mumbai were quickly reduced to 124/6.
Shams Mulani (46) and Shardul Thakur (66) put on a 103-run stand for the seventh wicket to keep Vidarbha at bay, before the former was run-out. It was followed by pacer Yash Thakur getting a ball to keep a little low and castle Shardul. After Tanush Kotian fell, Mohit Awasthi and Royston Dias put on a stand of 52 runs for the last wicket, before the former was trapped lbw by Dubey, the leading wicket-taker of this Ranji Trophy.
Brief Scores: Kerala 457 & 114/4 (Jalaj Saxena 37 not out, Rohan Kunnummal 32; Manan Hingrajia 2-22, Siddarth Desai 2-45) draw with Gujarat 455 (Priyank Panchal 148, Jaymeet Patel 79; Aditya Sarwate 4-111, Jalaj Saxena 4-149). Kerala qualifies due to first innings lead.
Vidarbha 383 and 292 beat Mumbai 270 and 325 all out (Shardul Thakur 66; Harsh Dubey 5-127) by 80 runs
--IANS
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