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On This Day in 2018: Playing against the mighty Delhi, led by star wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant and current Team India coach Gautam Gambhir, the Faiz Fazal-led side claimed a resounding nine-wicket triumph.
Vidarbha’s Rajneesh Gurbani claimed a hat-trick in the final, helping his team win the Ranji Trophy. (Image: BCCIdomestic/X, formerly Twitter)
Featuring in their maiden Ranji Trophy final, Vidarbha came up with a brilliant all-round performance to win the title on this day (January 1) in 2018. Playing against the mighty Delhi, led by star wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant and current Team India coach Gautam Gambhir, the Faiz Fazal-led side claimed a resounding nine-wicket triumph.
Chasing a 29-run target, Vidarbha lost one wicket and clinched the title in sublime fashion at the Holkar Cricket Stadium in Indore. Rajneesh Gurbani was adjudged the Man of the Match for his spectacular bowling in the final.
Gurbani ended up with excellent figures of 6/59 and 2/92 in the two innings respectively. During Delhi’s innings, Gurbani completed a hat-trick. With this, he became only the second player to claim a hat-trick in the final of the Ranji Trophy.
As fans celebrate a memorable win today, we take a look back at Vidarbha’s historic Ranji Trophy triumph.
Batting first, Delhi reached a total of 295. Dhruv Shorey emerged as the highest scorer for Delhi in the first innings. He played a fantastic knock of 145 off 294 deliveries.
Delhi’s Himmat Singh also contributed significantly with the bat adding 66 runs to the scoreboard. Rajneesh Gurbani was the star performer with the ball having scalped six wickets for Vidarbha.
Vidarbha showcased some classy batting and posted a mammoth total of 547 in response.
Vidarbha wicketkeeper Akshay Wadkar produced a vital innings of 133. Skipper Faiz Fazal, Wasim Jaffer, Aditya Sarwate and Siddhesh Neral also put up an impressive performance with each scoring a half century for Vidarbha in the first innings.
For Delhi, Navdeep Saini registered a five-wicket haul. Dhruv Shorey once again excelled with the bat and scored a half century for Delhi in the second innings. Nitish Rana was also in fine form and added 64 runs to the scoreboard for Delhi.
For Vidarbha, Akshay Wakhare bagged four wickets, while Aditya Sarwate claimed three scalps in the second innings.
Delhi were bowled out for 280, setting up a 29-run target for Vidarbha. Skipper Faiz Fazal returned soon to the dressing room scoring two runs during Vidarbha’s run chase. Sanjay Raghunath and Wasim Jaffer remained unbeaten to guide Vidarbha to an epic win against Delhi in January 2018.
