Vidarbha win 3rd Ranji Trophy title after Kerala draw: Stats
What's the story
Vidarbha cricket team has won its third Ranji Trophy title on basis of their first innings lead versus Kerala in the 2024/25 final.
The high-scoring match in Nagpur ended in a draw on Day 5.
Vidarbha scored 379/10 in the first innings with Kerala responding with 342 runs.
In the 3rd innings, Vidarbha scored 375/9 before the captains shook hands.
Summary
Summary of the contest
Riding on Danish Malewar's 153 and Karun Nair's 86, Vidarbha posted 379. For Kerala, MD Nidheesh and Eden Apple Tom took three wickets each.
Aditya Sarwate and Sachin Baby's fifties helped Kerala get to 342. Darshan Nalkande, Harsh Dubey and Parth Rekhade took three-fers.
In the 3rd innings, Vidarbha saw Nair smash 135.
Malewar
Malewar stands tall for Vidarbha
Malewar scored 153 runs in his side's first innings. He consumed 285 balls, slamming 15 fours and three sixes.
He followed that up with 73 from 162 balls (4s: 5).
Malewar ended the Ranji 2024/25 season with a tally of 783 runs at 52.80 from 9 matches (15 innings), as per ESPNcricinfo.
He smashed two tons and 6 fifties.
Nair
Nair finishes with 863 runs for Vidarbha
Nair ended as the season's third-highest scorer and Vidarbha's top run-getter with 863 runs from 16 innings at 53.93.
He registered 4 tons and two fifties.
Nair hit 86 from 188 balls in the first innings (4s: 8, 6s: 1). His 135 thereafter came from 295 balls (4s: 10, 6s: 2).
The veteran star stood tall and got the job done for his side.
Information
8,000 First-Class runs for Nair
With his 10th run in the 1st innings, Nair reached the 8,000-run milestone in First-Class cricket. After 114 matches (183 innings), Nair has raced to 8,211 runs. He owns 23 hundreds and 36 fifties.
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Malewar and Nair's telling partnerships bailed Vidarbha out
In the 1st innings, Vidarbha were 24/3 before Malewar and Nair stitched a mammoth 215-run stand. This was the turning point for Vidarbha. And then in the 3rd innings, Vidarbha were 7/2 before Malewar and Nair put on 182 runs for the 3rd wicket.
Baby
Sachin Baby slams 98 for Kerala
Baby was Kerala's hero in the 2nd innings, scoring 98 from 235 balls (4s: 10).
In 10 matches this season (15 innings), Baby raced to 516 runs at 36.85. This was his top score and a fifth fifty.
He shared a 63-run stand alongside Sarwate before stitching a 59-run partnership with Mohammed Azhauddeen for the 6th wicket.
Baby has 5,747 runs in FC cricket.
Information
Kerala's Aditya Sarwate chips in with a 79 and 4-fer
Aditya Sarwate scored a fighting 79 for Kerala in the 2nd innings from 185 balls (4s: 10). He backed that up with 4/96 in the 3rd innings. Earlier, he was wicketless in the 1st innings.
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Darshan Nalkande makes his presence felt for Vidarbha
Vidarbha's Darsh Nalkande claimed 3/52 from his 13 overs in the 2nd innings. And then in the 3rd innings, he hammered an unbeaten 51 from 98 balls.
Numbers
Dubey ends season with most wickets
Vidarbha's Harsh Dubey claimed three wickets in the 2nd innings. He bowled 44 overs and took 3/88.
The spell saw him end the 2024/25 Ranji season with a record 69 scalps from 10 games.
He took 3 four-fers and 7 five-wicket hauls, averaging 16.98, as per ESPNcricinfo.
Meanwhile, veteran Jalaj Saxena, who took 2 wickets in the match, ended with 40 scalps for Kerala.
Information
3rd Ranji title for Vidarbha
This is the 3rd Ranji title for Vidarbha. Before this, they won the tournament in 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons respectively. This was Vidarbha's 4th final in the tourney.
Twitter Post
Winners!
𝐕𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐛𝐡𝐚 𝐚𝐫𝐞 #𝐑𝐚𝐧𝐣𝐢𝐓𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐲 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒-𝟐𝟓 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬 🏆 🙌
— BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) March 2, 2025
Joy. Tears. Pride 😀👌
They lift the title by virtue of taking the 1st innings lead against Kerala in the Final 👏
The celebrations begin 🥳@IDFCFIRSTBank pic.twitter.com/CXjVNPPCE7