NAGPUR: When Vidarbha were staring at an innings defeat on the second day itself as all their recognized batters were back in the hut, wicketkeeper Jitesh Sharma (69; 53b, 5x6, 4x4) saved his team the blushes on Wednesday. Jitesh, who made a Ranji Trophy comeback after 5 years, showed why he is rated so high.
Vidarbha were under enormous pressure as they were reeling at 149 for 7 and Gujarat's Siddharth Desai (6-74) was creeping on their flesh. Jitesh took it on himself, played a handsome 53-ball 69 runs innings and ensured Gujarat outfit bats again in the Ranji Trophy match at Jamtha.
Courtesy Jitesh's half-century comprising 5 huge sixes and 4 crisp boundaries, Vidarbha set a 73-run target. While chasing, the visitors were 6 for 1 in 3 overs at stumps. The only Gujarat wicket that fell was taken by Aditya Sarwate (5-1), who earlier in the morning took his third five-wicket (5-64) haul of the season.
The Day-2 of the match saw 16 wickets falling. Gujarat took 182-run lead after they were bowled out for 256, while replying to Vidarbha's 74. The visitors had resumed the day at the overnight score of 188-5.
In the second essay, the second wicket partnership between Atharva Taide (44) and skipper Akshay Wadkar (34) resurrected Vidarbha after they lost both the openers early. Their 60-run stand made it look like Vidarbha were set for a comeback.
But in the next 67 runs, Vidarbha lost all the batters that matter including Taide, Wadkar, Yash Rathod (19), Aditya Sarwate (5) and Harsh Dubey (2) and the score was 149 for 7. The hosts were still 33 runs away from the lead.
Jitesh took Nachiket Bhute (42 off 66b) for 78 runs partnership for the 8th wicket and denied the visitors with a bonus point. A bonus point is awarded after an innings victory. Jitesh displayed his power-hitting prowess by sending the ball deep into the Jamtha stands on 3-4 occasions.
When he was batting, there were 7-8 fielders on the boundary. Still, he managed to pierce the boundary and get a few balls over them convincingly. What Jitesh missed was a companion in the form of a recognized batter at the other end. A target above 150 would have been certainly challenging for the visitors.
With 67 runs still to go, Vidarbha can still make a match from here, if they make use of initial hour like how Gujarat did on Day 1.
