ME NEWS BUREAU: It's time to rewrite the history of Indian domestic Cricket as Vidarbha etched their name along with the traditional domestic giants when they beat Delhi by nine wickets in their maiden Ranji Trophy final.
Vidarbha extended their excellent all round display that won the hearts of many fans throughout the entire tournament. Their hard work have been rewarded with the most decorated title in the Indian domestic Cricket.
Vidarbha had amassed a huge first innings total of 547 and took up a commanding lead of 252, thanks to a match-winning knock by Akshay Wadkar (133). Earlier medium pacer Rajneesh Gurbani's hat-trick helped Vidarbha to bundled out Delhi to a paltry 295 in their first innings.
Wadkar stitched two crucial partnerships, one with Aditya Sarwate (79) and Siddhesh Neral (74) down the order and rescued the side who were reeling on 246-6 at one satge.
Their bowlers later joined the party which made matters vulnerable for Delhi. Defiant Delhi batsman Gautam Gambhir played an uncharacteristic run-a-ball 36 before succumbed to a debatable call from the Umpire. A rescue mission was being operated by Nitish Rana (64) and Dhruv Shorey(62) giving little hopes for the Delhi fans. But it was a matter of time for Vidarbha bowlers as they eventually bundled out the opposition for 280.
Chasing 29 for their maiden Ranji triumph, Vidarbha went home with losing only one wicket and occupied at the crease for just six overs.
Earlier Vidarbha made a huge comeback in the semi final against the title contenders Karnataka from the edge of losing position.
Top batsmen Faiz Fazal, Sanjay Ramaswami and veteran Wasim Jaffer amassed runs upfront and kept runs always on their cards while medium pacer Rajneesh Gurbani led the bowling attack from the front.
