Vidarbha were 26 for 6 chasing 79 in Srinagar, and Dubey and Bhute took them past the champions

Vidarbha needed 79 to beat the Ranji Trophy champions in Srinagar on Tuesday, and after 10.1 overs they were 26 for 6. They got there with three wickets to spare. Harsh Dubey (22 not out) and Nachiket Bhute (13 not out) added the last 26 runs together, and Vidarbha have two wins from two in Elite Group A.

Jammu and Kashmir, who won their first Ranji title last season, had looked beaten a day earlier. They started their second innings 45 behind, closed the second evening on 8 for 4 and were 12 for 5 early on the third morning. Losing from there would have been normal. Nearly winning from there is the part worth remembering.

Bhute’s five and the collapse

Bhute did most of the damage. He bowled Umran Malik, Lone Nasir and Kawalpreet Singh in the last few overs of the second day, and Paras Dogra the next morning. When he later bowled Qamran Iqbal too, he had 5 for 48 from 14 overs, every one of them bowled, and 8 for 89 in the match.

Abdul Samad hit 39 off 30 balls with four sixes, and Qamran batted 111 balls for 38. Neither is a big score, but they took J&K from 12 for 5 to 123 all out and a lead of 78. Dubey cleaned up the tail with 2 for 3 in 5.2 overs.

Sunil Kumar nearly pulls it off

Seventy-nine should have been a formality. Sunil Kumar and Umar Nazir had five down inside ten overs. Ravikumar Samarth, who made 143 in the first innings, was caught behind for 6. Aman Mokhade, Dhruv Shorey and Danish Malewar followed. Praful Hinge, sent in at No. 6, lasted two balls, and the captain Akshay Wadkar was run out by Qamran for 1.

Mandar Mahale, playing his first first-class match, made 25 off 47 to drag the score to 55 before Umran caught him off Sunil. That left 24 to get with three wickets in hand. Dubey kept one end shut, and Bhute finished it with 13 off seven balls. Sunil ended with 4 for 30, and eight wickets in the match.

How the first innings set it up

Vidarbha only had a lead to defend because of their No. 9. They chose to bowl, and Kawalpreet, another debutant, made 96 before being run out to take J&K to 260. In reply Vidarbha were 133 for 7. Samarth and Rajneesh Gurbani then put on 136 for the eighth wicket. Samarth’s 143 off 202 balls won him the player of the match award, and Gurbani was left on 64 not out.

Take that stand away and J&K bat again with a first-innings lead and a much better chance of their first win of the season. They drew with Madhya Pradesh in round one and get nothing from this one. Vidarbha, who beat Puducherry by 160 runs in Nagpur last week, take six points.

More from the Ranji Trophy and Indian domestic cricket