Vidarbha Vs Kerala Final 26 February 2025

Final • Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium • Nagpur

Kerala

342 (125)

Vidarbha

379 & 375/9 (143.5)

Match Drawn

Info

Live

Scorecard

Mini Games

Date & Time

26 Feb, 09:30 AM IST

Venue

Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Jamtha, Nagpur

Match

Final,

Ranji Trophy

Umpires

Anil Chaudhary (India), Jayaraman Madanagopal (India), Rohan Pandit (India, TV)

Referee

Prakash Bhatt (India)

Toss

Kerala elected to bowl

Pitch Report

One captain will lift the trophy today. The wicket has played true throughout this game but it reminds you of a moon crater with so many spots in it. It has played well though - there is a bit of turn on offer but it has come nicely onto the bat. The bowlers haven't targeted the rough outside the left-hander's off-stump. The odd ball has misbehaved. We can talk about the spots in the pitch but it's still good for batting and bowling. The medium-pacers can get something out of it too.

1st Innings

330Avg Runs

10Avg Wkts

52.52Avg SR

2nd Innings

350Avg Runs

10Avg Wkts

54.39Avg SR

3rd Innings

261Avg Runs

9Avg Wkts

57.51Avg SR

4th Innings

162Avg Runs

8Avg Wkts

47.4Avg SR

Weather Update

Head To Head (Last 10 Matches)

VID

2- 0

KER

Team Form (Recent 5 Matches, Latest First)

Vidarbha

Kerala

Players to Watch

Top Batters

Yash Rathod

VID . BAT

1069 Runs

9 Matches

Akshay Wadkar

VID . WK

927 Runs

9 Matches

Karun Nair

VID . BAT

769 Runs

8 Matches

Top Bowlers

Harsh Dubey

VID . ALL

66 Wkts

9 Matches

Jalaj Saxena

KER . ALL

38 Wkts

9 Matches

Aditya Sarwate

KER . ALL

30 Wkts

8 Matches

Player of the Match Danish Malewar

153(285) & 73(162)

VID 1st

KER 1st

VID 2nd

Info

Vidarbha 1st Innings

379/10 (123.1)

Batters

Parth Rekhade

0.00

lbw b Nidheesh

Dhruv Shorey

45.71

c Mohammed Azharuddeen b Tom

Darshan Nalkande

4.76

c Basil b Nidheesh

Danish Malewar

153

285

53.68

b Basil

Karun Nair

188

45.74

runout (Kunnummal / Mohammed Azharuddeen)

Yash Thakur

41.67

lbw b Basil

Yash Rathod

23.08

c Kunnummal b Tom

Akshay Wadkar

46.94

c Mohammed Azharuddeen b Tom

Akshay Karnewar

54.55

c Kunnummal b Jalaj Saxena

Harsh Dubey

42.86

Not out

Nachiket Bhute

84.21

c Mohammed Azharuddeen b Nidheesh

Extras

(B: 4, LB: 9, NB: 2, W: 1)

TOTAL

(123.1 Ov, RR: 3.08)

379/10

Bowlers

EXT

MD Nidheesh

28.1

2.17

Eden Apple Tom

102

3.29

Aditya Sarwate

3.77

Nedumankuzhy Basil

2.50

Jalaj Saxena

3.60

Akshay Chandran

3.14

Fall Of Wickets

SCORE

OVER

Parth Rekhade

lbw b Nidheesh

1-0

0.2

Darshan Nalkande

c Basil b Nidheesh

2-11

6.3

Dhruv Shorey

c Mohammed Azharuddeen b Tom

3-24

12.5

Karun Nair

runout (Kunnummal / Mohammed Azharuddeen)

4-239

81.4

Danish Malewar

b Basil

5-290

95.3

Yash Thakur

lbw b Basil

6-295

99.4

Yash Rathod

c Kunnummal b Tom

7-297

100.3

Akshay Karnewar

c Kunnummal b Jalaj Saxena

8-333

110.1

Akshay Wadkar

c Mohammed Azharuddeen b Tom

9-335

113.3

Nachiket Bhute

c Mohammed Azharuddeen b Nidheesh

10-379

123.1

Kerala 1st Innings

342/10 (125)

Batters

Akshay Chandran

127.27

b Nalkande

Rohan Kunnummal

0.00

b Nalkande

Aditya Sarwate

185

42.70

c Malewar b Dubey

Ahamed Imran

44.58

c (sub Mokhade) b Thakur

Sachin Baby

235

41.70

c Nair b Rekhade

Salman Nizar

50.00

lbw b Dubey

Mohammed Azharuddeen

57.63

lbw b Nalkande

Jalaj Saxena

36.84

b Rekhade

Eden Apple Tom

19.23

b Rekhade

MD Nidheesh

9.09

lbw b Dubey

Nedumankuzhy Basil

0.00

Not out

Extras

(B: 0, LB: 2, NB: 13, W: 5)

TOTAL

(125 Ov, RR: 2.74)

342/10

Bowlers

EXT

Darshan Nalkande

4.00

Yash Thakur

4.88

Nachiket Bhute

3.42

Harsh Dubey

2.00

Parth Rekhade

2.17

Akshay Karnewar

1.22

Fall Of Wickets

SCORE

OVER

Rohan Kunnummal

b Nalkande

1-1

0.5

Akshay Chandran

b Nalkande

2-14

2.3

Ahamed Imran

c (sub Mokhade) b Thakur

3-107

31.3

Aditya Sarwate

c Malewar b Dubey

4-170

55.6

Salman Nizar

lbw b Dubey

5-219

70.4

Mohammed Azharuddeen

lbw b Nalkande

6-278

94.1

Sachin Baby

c Nair b Rekhade

7-324

106.5

Jalaj Saxena

b Rekhade

8-337

118.3

MD Nidheesh

lbw b Dubey

9-338

121.6

Eden Apple Tom

b Rekhade

10-342

124.6

Vidarbha 2nd Innings

375/9 (143.5)

Batters

Parth Rekhade

20.00

b Jalaj Saxena

Dhruv Shorey

83.33

c Mohammed Azharuddeen b Nidheesh

Danish Malewar

162

45.06

c Sachin Baby b Chandran

Karun Nair

135

295

45.76

st Mohammed Azharuddeen b Sarwate

Yash Rathod

42.86

lbw b Sarwate

Akshay Wadkar

108

23.15

b Sarwate

Harsh Dubey

15.38

lbw b Tom

Akshay Karnewar

42.86

b Basil

Darshan Nalkande

52.04

Not out

Nachiket Bhute

30.00

lbw b Sarwate

Yash Thakur

27.59

Not out

Extras

(B: 5, LB: 9, NB: 2, W: 0)

TOTAL

(143.5 Ov, RR: 2.61)

375/9

Bowlers

EXT

MD Nidheesh

3.20

Jalaj Saxena

109

2.18

Eden Apple Tom

4.07

Aditya Sarwate

44.5

2.14

Nedumankuzhy Basil

2.57

Akshay Chandran

2.54

Fall Of Wickets

SCORE

OVER

Parth Rekhade

b Jalaj Saxena

1-5

1.1

Dhruv Shorey

c Mohammed Azharuddeen b Nidheesh

2-7

2.2

Danish Malewar

c Sachin Baby b Chandran

3-189

59.4

Yash Rathod

lbw b Sarwate

4-238

80.1

Karun Nair

st Mohammed Azharuddeen b Sarwate

5-259

96.3

Harsh Dubey

lbw b Tom

6-279

108.1

Akshay Wadkar

b Sarwate

7-283

109.6

Akshay Karnewar

b Basil

8-331

130.4

Nachiket Bhute

lbw b Sarwate

9-346

133.4

Match Info

Date & Time

26 Feb, 09:30 AM IST

Venue

Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Jamtha, Nagpur

Match

Final,

Ranji Trophy

Umpires

Anil Chaudhary (India), Jayaraman Madanagopal (India), Rohan Pandit (India, TV)

Referee

Prakash Bhatt (India)

Toss

Kerala elected to bowl

0 0 1 0 4 0

Over 140

Runs: 5

1 1 0 0 0 1

Over 141

Runs: 3

0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 0

Over 142

Runs: 4

1 1 0 2 2

Over 144

Runs: 6

All Overs

Player of the Match Danish Malewar

153(285) & 73(162)

Commentary

38 teams, four groups, seven knockout games 1 champion - Vidarbha! They win their third trophy and will be celebrating like there is no tomorrow. That winning feeling will be lingering for quite some time in that dressing room. That marks the end of the Indian red ball domestic season, as I, Lavil Saldanha alongside my colleague, Karthik Raj sign off. We hope you enjoyed our coverage and look to see you soon. SEE YA!

The president of BCCI, Roger Binny, hands Akshay Wadkar, skipper of Vidarbha the trophy. He takes it over to his team-mates, who are standing near the Champions board. Their families look at them, and chants of "Vidarbha, Vidarbha" grow louder, with the team chanting "Ganpati Bappa Morya". They take the trophy and parade around the venue. Yash Rathod, the highest run-getter of the season, places it on the pitch and poses with the trophy. He is joined by Karun Nair and the team takes turns to click pictures with the trophy

Akshay Wadkar (captain, Vidarbha): "The effort we put in during the entire season has paid off today, everyone is happy. Last year, we lost the final. The preparations started immediately after that and each individual put in effort to improve their skillset, fitness. We have many contributors in the Top scorers and Top wicket-takers list this season. Yash Rathod and Danish Malewar. Yash was the highest scorer, scored runs in crucial situations. Danish too came up two crucial knocks in this final. They showed mental toughness. As a player, as a captain. It was my dream to win the Ranji Trophy for my team. It is the dream for any player in First-class cricket and we have achieved it today. Definitely, all the aspects have been ticked. We will see what we can work on during the off-season."

The Vidarbha players are receiving their personal Ranji Trophy Winners' trophies!

Harsh Dubey of Vidarbha is the Player of the Tournament for the 2024-25 Ranji Trophy. He has picked up 69 wickets and scored 476 runs

Harsh Dubey (Vidarbha): It has been a great moment, a dream moment for us. We lost the finals last season and it is special for us as Akshay bhai will be retiring and it is good to send him off with a title. I worked on my fitness and batting during the pre-season. I try to take it one game at a time, bowl wicket to wicket, and ensure that I strike. I started off as a batter, hence have that attachment to batting. My goal is to play for India, but I do not want to think about it and complicate things. I will rest for a bit and get back to training before the next season

Danish Malewar (Player of the Match): "Very good season for me. This was my first Ranji season. Learned a lot. Luckily, I managed to be impactful in this final. I was prepared a little bit for this. Had been dismissed on 50s, 60s a few times. Worked on it and I managed to convert in this final. He has a lot of experience, we both have a simple formula. If I had a loss in concentration, he would help me asking me to play straight. There is a lot of difference between U-19 and Ranji. There is a lot of difference in experience levels. There is not as much planning as there is in Ranji Trophy."

Sachin Baby (captain, Kerala): It is a big final, my team and association are very proud of reaching the finals. Here, whoever makes the lesser mistake wins, and kudos to Vidarbha for that. Good performance from both bowlers and batters and I am very proud of them. As I said, whoever makes the lesser mistakes wins. As a leader, I take responsibility for playing a rash shot and conceding the advantage. Nothing much, I wanted to be there for the team till the end and get the lead. If we got a lead, it was to be 100+ but then it was destiny as you said. KCA has put a lot of effort in all categories and this is our first final in all formats. We faced them (Vidarbha) on three occasions before but we will beat them the next time.

Time for the Post-match Presentation!

Yash Rathod (Vidarbha): No secrets, I was preparing well before the season. I wanted to get 1000 runs this season but missed it by 40 runs. Nonetheless, very happy. You need to analyse various conditions and ball movements in the pre-season. I try to work on my techniques as well. I want to dominate all three formats and do my best

MATCH DRAWN!

Vidarbha 379/10
Kerala 342/10
Vidarbha 375/9

Karun Nair 135 (295) | Danish Malewar 73 (162)

Aditya Sarwate 4/96 (44.5) | NP Basil 1/18 (7)

02:19 PM IST: So, that is that as Vidarbha become Ranji Trophy Champions for the third time! What a dominant season for Vidarbha as they were on top throughout the season. Kerala will regret at missing out at the last stage but they will nevertheless be proud of this campaign when not a lot of people would have expected them to reach the final.

But it is time to talk about the Champions! What a campaign once again. Despite being reduced to 24/3 in the first innings, the duo of Danish Malewar and Karun Nair stitched a crucial 215-run partnership. Karun missed out on his century but Malewar went onto score 153 with Vidarbha eventually finishing up on 379!

Kerala replied pretty well with Aditya Sarwate who was promoted to No.3 going onto score 79 runs. Skipper Sachin Baby also batted well but he fell agonizingly short of his century by two runs and that opened the floodgates for Vidarbha. All of a sudden, Kerala collapsed from 324/6 to 342 all-out giving a lead of 37 runs to Vidarbha.

The Kerala bowled removed the Vidarbha openers cheaply but Malewar and Karun came together once again to put on a 182-run partnership. This time it was Malewar who missed out on his century but Karun went onto make 135 runs. Vidarbha went into Stumps on Day 5 having almost sealed the trophy but Karun and Akshay Wadkar fell early today to give Kerala some hope. Eden Apple Tom also got rid of Harsh Dubey to send some jitters in the Vidarbha camp. However, Akshay Karnewar and Darshan Nalkande batted out a lot of deliveries to push Kerala completely out of the picture. NP Basil dismissed Karnewar for 30 while Aditya Sarwate dismissed Nachiket Bhute but Nalkande battled on and went onto score a half-century with Yash Thakur giving him company. As soon as Nalkande reached his milestone, the Kerala skipper Sachin Baby decided tio shake hands meaning that Vidarbha sealed their third Ranji Trophy title.

143.5 Aditya Sarwate to Darshan Nalkande, TWO RUNS! 50 FOR NALKANDE AND THEY SHAKE HANDS! Back of a length delivery on the line of the off stump, Nalkande gets onto his backfoot and knocks it towards deep square leg for a quick brace to get to his 50. Sachin Baby walks up to Nalkande, congratulates him, and shakes hands. Vidarbha win Ranji Trophy 2024-25 based on the first innings lead and win their third title overall, first since the 2018-19 season

143.4 Aditya Sarwate to Darshan Nalkande, full and on the line of the off stump. Nalkande comes down the track and plays it towards long on for a brace. Moves onto 49!

143.3 Aditya Sarwate to Darshan Nalkande, length delivery on the line of the off stump. Nalkande blocks it back to the bowler, no run

143.2 Aditya Sarwate to Yash Thakur, length delivery on the middle and off stump. Thakur manages to negotiate the low bounce on that one and turns it towards midwicket for a single

143.1 Aditya Sarwate to Darshan Nalkande, full and on the line of the off stump. Nalkande hits that one down the ground for a single

Three runs off the over. Missed opportunity in that over by the fielder at short leg and the tired Kerala team-mates will be not happy.

143

overs

369 /9 score

runs

Yash Thakur *

7 (28)

Darshan Nalkande

46 (94)

Jalaj Saxena

1 /109

142.6 Jalaj Saxena to Yash Thakur, length delivery outside the off stump. Thakur knocks it towards covers, no run

Tough opportunity for the man at short leg and Sachin Baby shakes his head.

142.5 Jalaj Saxena to Yash Thakur, DROPPED! Length delivery on the line of the off stump. Turns into the batter, who turns it on the legside and it raps the short leg on his visor. A chance goes down and the physio will come out in the middle to check him

COMMENTARY NOT AVAILABLE