Vidarbha and Saurashtra squared off in a Group A fixture of the Ranji Trophy 2024 on Friday, January 19, at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground in Nagpur. Vidarbha skipper Akshay Wadkar won the toss and elected to bowl first. Openers Harvik Desai and Kevin Jivrajani got the defending champions off to a sedate start, as they added 63 runs. Vishvaraj Jadeja came out to bat at No. 3 but his short stay at the crease was ended by Umesh Yadav. Desai and Cheteshwar Pujara were starting to form a decent partnership but the former was dismissed for 68.
From 153/3, Saurashtra were bowled out for 206. Umesh was the star of the show for Vidarbha, as the veteran finished with figures of 4/56 in 16 overs. Apart from Vishvaraj’s wicket, Umesh also sent Sheldon Jackson, Arpit Vasavada, and Prerak Mankad packing.
This isn’t the first time the right-arm pacer impressed during the ongoing edition of the Ranji Trophy. He picked up five wickets in Vidarbha’s first game against Services before missing the second one against Manipur. No Vidarbha bowler, who bowled on Day 1, finished wicketless. Aditya Sarwate and Harsh Dubey bagged two wickets each while Aditya Thakare and Yash Thakur chipped in with one wicket apiece.
Cheteshwar Pujara gets out in the 40s for the third time in a row
Pujara started his Ranji Trophy 2024 campaign with a stunning unbeaten knock of 243 runs off 356 balls against Jharkhand. The match ended in a draw as Saurashtra took the decisive first-innings lead. In the second game against Haryana, Pujara registered scores of 49 and 43 in the two innings, respectively. Haryana won a low-scoring thriller by four wickets.
On Friday, Pujara came out to bat with the score at 87/2. He exhibited compact technique to survive a fiery spell from former India teammate Umesh. The 35-year-old scored 43 runs before being dismissed by Thakare.
After a disappointing batting display, Saurashtra bounced back with the ball, picking up four wickets before Stumps on Day 1. Vidarbha are 26/4 after 19 overs, 180 runs adrift of Saurashtra’s first innings total.