Ranji Trophy: Seven-wicket Rajneesh Gurbani bowls Vidarbha into first final

NEW DELHI: Vidarbha have pipped heavyweights Karnataka in one of the all-time great Ranji Trophy semi-finals to meet Delhi in the final next week - which marks the team’s first appearance in the summit clash of Indian domestic cricket’s premier competition. As he had done superbly in a four-wicket burst on the fourth evening in Pune, seam bowler Rajneesh Gurbani bowled excellently to take the three wickets required to seal a thrilling five-run win on Thursday.
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With Karnataka resuming on 111/7 on the final day at the MCA Stadium, Gurbani prized out Karnataka skipper R Vinay Kumar during the first half hour of play, but Faiz Fazal’s team was pushed on the back foot by Abhimanyu Mithun’s 26-ball 33, which featured five boundaries. Gurbani extracted Mithun at 189/9, and then had the last man Sreenath Aravind caught for 2.
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Shreyas Gopal, with four first-class centuries to his name, was left stranded on 24.
Gurbani was named Man of the Match for taking 12 wickets - 5/94 in Karnataka's first innings followed by a career-best 7/68 in the second.
Karnataka had topped their group, while Vidarbha finished on top of Group D with four wins from six league matches. Karnataka beat Mumbai in the quarter-finals, and Vidarbha overcome Kerala.
The Ranji Trophy final starts December 29 at Indore’s Holkar Stadium.