THERE is a saying in cricket that a team needs bowlers to take 20 wickets to win a match. But what about the batters? Aren’t they supposed to complement the bowlers and score those required runs? Vidarbha bowlers, who could have done better on a supportive turf, bowled the opponents twice but the batters failed collectively in both innings as the team was humbled by 238 runs by Saurashtra in their Ranji Trophy Elite Group A third round match that finished inside three days at VCA Civil Lines ground on Sunday. In response to Saurashtra’s 206 and 244, Vidarbha replied with 78 and 134. Hosts’ poor show with the willow in first innings did them in. In hindsight, it seems that the selection of the playing eleven, considering the green top, was flawed.

 

While Vidarbha went with three pacers — Umesh Yadav, Yash Thakur and Aditya Thakare and two spinners — Aditya Sarvate and Harsh Dubey, both in top form, the visitors included four seamers in their squad and a lone spinner in Dharmendrasinh Jadeja. The four-pronged attack, that did not let the intensity slip on a difficult wicket, had the lion’s share of the wickets (17). One among the four, seamer-all-rounder Chirag Jani ended with taking nine wickets including a fifer to be declared man of the match. When the match resumed on third day, Cheteshwar Pujara duly completed his fifty with a single that came after playing 21 dot balls at 49. Dubey removed both the overnight batters, Sheldon Jackson and Pujara.

 

Thakur had Prerak Mankad lbw on first ball nought. With new ball, Yadav picked two in two to be on a split hat-trick for second time in the match. Thakare took last two wickets as Saurashtra set a huge target of 373. Vidarbha were never on the hunt and save for white-ball skipper Atharva Taide, who mixed caution and aggression, and tailender Thakur, who entertained the partisan crowd with lusty hitting, it was an abject surrender by Vidarbha.