Twitter congratulates Vidarbha as they storm into their maiden Ranji finals

Vidarbha has reached the final of the ongoing season of Ranji Trophy by clinching the thriller against a formidable Karnataka side. Vinay Kumar led team fought until the end in pursuit of the 198 set by their opposition but fell agonisingly short by 5 runs. They couldn’t get past the brilliance of Rajneesh Gurbani who scalped 12 wickets in the match and bowled his heart out on all five days. However, Twitterati was up for this game well and hailed both the teams for putting on a spirited display at the historic Eden Gardens.

Faiz Fazal led Vidarbha was flowing against the tide for the first three days after being bowled out for a paltry total of 185 runs. Their comeback was stalled by Karun Nair who played an excellent knock 153 runs as Karnataka took a 116-run lead in the first innings. Rajneesh Gurbani though had cut short their innings with a five-wicket haul else the things could have been even worse for the team from the eastern region of Maharashtra. But they had their task cut out in the second innings.

Stunning fightback on the fourth day

The third day finished with Vidarbha’s backs against the wall as they only had the lead of 79 runs and had lost their top 4 wickets. Ganesh Sathish played a defiant knock of 81 runs as Aditya Sarwate too notched up a crucial half-century and stretched the lead. Karnataka had the game in their hands as they scalped three more wickets in the first hour on the fourth day. But the tail wagged much to their frustration and Vidarbha extended their lead from around 110 to a competitive 197 before getting bowled out for 313 in their second essay.

The bowlers came out with a momentum on their side and scalped as many as seven wickets in 43 overs on the remainder of the day. Gurbani owned the final session of the day even as their opposition posed a threat to get closer to the target. Even on the deciding morning he was sensational and snuffed the remaining three wickets to script a historic victory for his side. There were tears of joy as the team has played brilliantly this season. Karnataka, on the other hand, were left heartbroken after being so close to the victory. Surely this is the match of the season and the title clash awaits now on December 29.

Here’s how Twitter hailed Vidarbha for keeping their nerves when it mattered the most: