Vidarbha crush K’taka by 128 runs to make Ranji Trophy semi-finals

Vidarbha completed a 128-run hammering of Karnataka to cruise to the Ranji Trophy semifinal, riding on splendid four-wicket hauls by Harsh Dubey and Aditya Sarwate here on Tuesday.

It was a memorable win for the hosts here at the VCA Stadium at Civil Lines as Vidarbha came from behind on the final day to stop Karnataka in their tracks with a flurry of wickets. Chasing a massive 371 to win, Karnataka had laid the foundation when they closed at 103 for one at stumps on the fourth day, but a spectacular batting collapse on the fifth day morning undid all their hardwork.

With 268 more to win and nine wickets in hand, Karnataka would have backed themselves to cross the line but Dubey and Sarwate ran through their batting line-up to deliver a huge win for Vidarbha. Inside the first hour’s play, Karnataka lost the fulcrum of their batting unit including skipper Mayank Agarwal (70), Nikin Jose (0) and Manish Pandey (1) in a short span, with Sarwate (22-0-78-4) accounting for each of them.