Vidarbha advances to the Ranji Trophy final with three-fors by Wakhare and Thakare.

Vidarbha’s bowlers dispatched Madhya Pradesh’s tail to secure a position in the Ranji Trophy final. Aditya Thakare and Yash Thakur began with a bang, as Vidarbha claimed the four remaining wickets in 11.3 overs on the fifth morning in Nagpur, completing a 62-run win and joining Mumbai as finalists.

MP began the day in disarray, having already lost Yash Dubey, who top-scored with 94, before stumps yesterday evening. They needed another 94 runs when Dubey left, with Saransh Jain the last recognised hitter.

But Thakare’s double strike dashed MP’s hopes. He dismissed Kumar Kartikeya and Anubhav Agarwal in his first two overs of the day. Yash Thakur then delivered the decisive hit, castingling Jain.

Avesh Khan and Kulwant Khejroliya, MP Nos. 10 and 11, put up some resistance with an 18-run stand, but Thakur finished the game by removing Khejroliya’s stump.

While Thakare assisted in removing the tail, Aditya Sarwate had dismissed both openers on the fourth day, and Akshay Wakhare went through the middle order in the last session to secure victory.

Vidarbha will make its third appearance in the Ranji final. They reached their first final in 2017-18, which they won, and successfully defended their championship in 2018-19.

In this season’s final, Vidarbha will face Mumbai, which defeated Tamil Nadu in a home semi-final in less than three days. The match starts on March 10 and will be hosted by Mumbai.