Sat Nov 16 13:15:39 UTC 2024: **Gujarat Battles to Thrilling Ranji Trophy Draw Against Vidarbha**
Nagpur, November 16 (IANS) – Gujarat secured a hard-fought draw against Vidarbha in a thrilling Group B Ranji Trophy encounter here on Friday. Despite three centuries from Vidarbha batsmen, Gujarat managed to salvage a crucial point.
Vidarbha, resuming their second innings at 512/8, declared at 545/9, thanks to centuries from Danish Malewar (115), Karun Nair (123), and captain Akshay Wadkar (114*). This gave them a 202-run lead. Tejas Patel took three wickets for Gujarat, while Arjan Nagwaswala and Siddarth Desai claimed two each.
Gujarat’s chase was shaky early, losing three wickets for 50 runs. However, Umang Kumar (50) and Jaymit Patel (21) steadied the ship with a 49-run partnership. Het Patel top-scored with 77, but Gujarat eventually lost their seventh wicket at a point where they were drawing level with Vidarbha’s first innings score. A late flurry of wickets including Het Patel’s dismissal ended the match in a draw. Aditya Thakre starred with the ball for Vidarbha, picking up three wickets.
The draw leaves Vidarbha at the top of the group standings, followed by Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat. Other matches saw Rajasthan and Uttarakhand, and Andhra and Hyderabad, also ending in draws.
First Piper 