Wakhare, Thakare three-fors take Vidarbha to Ranji Trophy final
Madhya Pradesh lost their remaining four wickets in 11.3 overs on day five
ESPNcricinfo staff
06-Mar-2024
Vidarbha's players and support staff pose after the match • PTI
Vidarbha 170 (Nair 63, Avesh 4-49, Iyer 2-28) and 402 (Rathod 141, Wadkar 77, Anubhav 5-92) beat Madhya Pradesh 252 (Mantri 126, Umesh 3-40, Thakur 3-51) and 258 (Dubey 94, Wakhare 3-42, Thakur 3-60) by 62 runs
Vidarhba's bowlers made short work of Madhya Pradesh's tail to confirm their spot in the final of the Ranji Trophy. Aditya Thakare and Yash Thakur started with a bang as Vidarbha took the four remaining wickets in 11.3 overs on the fifth morning in Nagpur to complete a 62-run win and join Mumbai as the finalists.
MP started the day in strife, having already lost Yash Dubey, who top-scored with 94, before stumps last evening. They needed another 94 runs when Dubey departed, with Saransh Jain the last recognised batter.
But Thakare's double-strike dented MP's hopes. He knocked over Kumar Kartikeya and Anubhav Agarwal in his first two overs of the day. Yash Thakur then landed the decisive blow by castling Jain.
Avesh Khan and Kulwant Khejroliya, MP's Nos. 10 and 11, showed some resistance with an 18-run stand, but Thakur completed the game by uprooting Khejroliya's stumps.
While Thakare helped take out the tail, Aditya Sarwate had dismissed both openers on the fourth day, and Akshay Wakhare ran through the middle order in the final innings to set up the victory.
This will be Vidarbha's third appearance in the Ranji final. They had reached their first final in the 2017-18 edition, which they went on to win, before also successfully defending their title in 2018-19.
In this season's final, Vidarbha will take on Mumbai, who trounced Tamil Nadu in a home semi-final in under three days. The match begins on March 10, and will be hosted by Mumbai.