Defiant Vidarbha prolong Mumbai's wait for 42nd Ranji Trophy triumph

A dogged fightback from Vidarbha led by Karun Nair 74 and skipper Akshay Wadkar 56 not out prolonged Mumbais wait for a 42nd Ranji Trophy title as the visiting side reached 2485 in pursuit of a mammoth 538 on the fourth and penultimate day of the final on WednesdaySet an improbable target to win the summit clash after being outplayed since the first day afternoon Vidarbha put up a resolute show with the bat to frustrate their hosts by resorting to stonewalling for the majority of the dayNair who joined the Vidarbha ranks only at the start of this season was at the forefront of their resistance as he faced as many as 220 balls while batting for 287 minutes to keep Mumbai at bayBut the righthanded batter ultimately fell to the brilliance of Musheer Khan late in the day with the 19yearold producing a superb bowling show after setting up the game with 136 in the second innings of the Ranji Trophy finalNairs skipper Wadkar was batting on 56 with Harsh Dubey 11 not out for company The team required another 290 runs with five wickets in handMumbai managed a couple of wickets each in the first two sessions and the vital scalp of Nair in the last They took the second new ball in the 82nd over of the inningsUp until then Mumbai had tried almost everything on what remained a placid pitch at the Wankhede Stadium It had more on offer for the home teams spinners who remained persistent throughoutMumbais troika of rightarm pacers took turns to come around the wickets to try and bounce out Vidarbha while spinners operated from both ends to challenge the batters techniquesAlso ReadA player can give his life for him Ashwin reveals Rohits heartfelt gestureIn the end Vidarbha walked away with a moral win of sorts having not capitulated given the occasion and pressure of the final and the fact that a target of 538 is perceived as out of reach for most batting lineupsThe leader of the spin pack for Mumbai was Musheer who remained nearly unplayable for his figures of 173242 He bowled a challenging line from both the sides of the pitch to keep troubling the Vidarbha batters in the Ranji Trophy finalMusheers dismissal of Nair who was earlier dropped on four by Hardik Tamore off Kotian was the one which stood out Giving a nice loop to the ball to land it in front of middle and leg Musheer got it to turn away sharplyIt wasnt the first time in the day when Musheer had challenged Nairs defence this way but on this instance he found an outside edge which was grabbed sharply by TamoreTanush Kotian also played his part taking 255 from his 19 overs having accounted for Dhruv Shorey 28 and Yash Rathod 7 after Vidarbha made their intentions clear earlier in the dayAt no stage did the Vidarbha batters show intention to aim for the humongous target on Wednesday but were discipline enough to ensure they had long hauls in the middle barring Atharva Taide 32Taide walked across the wickets to attempt a sweep off Shams Mulani 156 in the 19th over and was trapped legbefore post which Mumbai struck again soon to send Shorey back in the shedAman Mokhade 32 got a lifeline when a sweep shot went straight to Kotian at fine leg who spilled the catch with the batter on 15Mokhade however could not make the most of the lifeline when an onfield umpires call for legbefore went against him despite reviewingWadkar appeared busier than his other teammates cracking six fours to make 56 not out from 91 balls with his innings also including an uppercut for the maximum with which he raised his fiftyThe Vidarbha skipper also did well with Nair to add 90 runs for the fifth wicket for which they consumed 173 ballsWith agency inputs