Vidarbha on course of the history in Ranji Trophy 2017-18

Kolkata: In one of the most hard-earned victories in the history of Ranji Trophy cricket in recent times, Vidarbha on Thursday defeated Karnataka by five runs to make its maiden entry in the final.

In a pulsating semifinal match played here, the hero of the match pacer Rajneesh Gurbani, in his career best, claimed seven wickets for 68 runs in the Karnataka second innings while returning with an incredible match figure of 12 for 162.

Vidarbha, in quest of its first-ever Ranji title in 2017-18, will clash with Delhi at Holkar Stadium , Indore from December 29. Setting a probable target of 198 runs for Karnataka, the charged-up Vidarbha folded the former at 192 sealing the final spot for the underdogs.

It was a creditable win for the side led by Faiz Fazal with veteran Wasim Jaffer and India star Umesh Yadav in its ranks which had conceded a lead of 186 runs in the first innings and fought back hard by maintaining its nerve and confidence.

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Karnataka, which was without Manish Pandey who is on national duty, could not make it despite a fine century by Indian test triple centurion Karun Nair, dominated the game till the third day but lost steam from fourth day onwards to lose the match.

Earlier in the first semi final Delhi, led by young Rishabh Pant, had defeated Bengal by an innings and 26 runs to reach the Ranji final for 15th time while it has won the title seven times, in 2007-08 season being the last.

Brief Scores:

Vidarbha 1st innings 185 ( A A Sarwate 47 Abhimanyu Mithun 5 for 45 )

Karnataka !st innings 301 (Karun Nair 153 Rajneesh Gurbani 5 for 94, Umesh Yadav 4 for 73)

Vidarbha 2nd innings 313 (Satish ganesh 81, A A Sarwate 55 )

Karnataka 2nd innings 192 (Vinay Kumar 36 Rajneesh Gurbani 7 for 68)