Clinical Vidarbha clinch Ranji Trophy after draw

Vidarbha clinch Ranji Trophy after draw

Vidarbha has won the Ranji Trophy for the third time in their history after playing out a draw on the final day. They entered the day with a lead of 286 and six wickets in hand. They managed to extend their lead beyond 400, after which the teams shook hands.

Kerala needed a miracle to win, but Karun Nair's wicket in the first few overs ended their hopes. Akshay Wadkar and Harsh Dubey stood firm, scoring 126 runs together. Aditya Sarwate caused a brief flutter by dismissing Wadkar, but Darshan Nalkande and Akshay Karnewar batted out the next 20 overs to ensure vital time was lost for Kerala.

Nalkande helped his team's lead go past the 400-run mark, and the match was called off soon after. Danish Malewar was named player of the match for his century in the first innings, and Harsh Dubey was declared the player of the tournament.

Scores:

• Vidarbha: 379 (Malewar 153) & 375/9 (Nair 135, Malewar 73)
• Kerala: 342 (Baby 98, Sarwate 79)