Defending champions Vidarbha beat Saurashtra by 78 runs on Day 5 of the Ranji Trophy final at VCA stadium in Nagpur to emerge as the champions for second year in a row.

Chasing a target of 206 runs, Saurashtras quest for the maiden Ranji title was squashed as the team was bowled out for 127 runs even as Saurashtra batsman Vishvaraj Jadeja scored 52 runs.

Aditya Sarvate, who turned the match in Vidarbhas favour on Day 4 by picking up three crucial and early wickets, took another three wickets on Day 5 and took his wicket tally in the match to 11. Sarvate, rightly so, was declared as the player of the match during the presentation ceremony.

Speaking during the ceremony, Sarvate said, First of all, I would like to congratulate the Saurashtra team. I had a dream final. In the second innings it was difficult to rotate the strike. I had to keep going because we added valuable runs with the tail.

An elated Vidarbha captain Faiz Fazal after the win said, It feels unreal. Behind this there is a lot of hard work. The emotions are different from the first time we won it. The pressure and expectations were higher this time. Our off-season preparation went very well and we worked very hard. The best chef doesn’t reveal all the ingredients and I would say that we worked hard. I can’t thank the support staff as they worked really hard with and on us.