Cricket is a game of glorious uncertainties and you can't predict until the final outcome has arrived. The saying proved spot on in the final day of the Ranji Trophy Plate division championship as Gujarat while chasing a target of 150 fumbled and stumbled but managed to score a breathtaking one-wicket win over Railways in the end.
Railways team was about to arrive at their final junction but denied platform at the last moment by the opponents, as Gujarat sealed the Ranji Trophy Plate title in their favour in a nerve-racking final played at the Brabourne Stadium here on Wednesday.
The match had some heart-throbbing moments and at one point it was looking as if any team could walk away with the championship. It was fully action-packed drama with catches dropped, big close shouts and some determined batting either side of the lunch session from the Gujarat side.
Jay Desai (17), the debut seasoner, alongwith Siddharth Trivedi (2) eked out some anxious moments and ensured Gujarat don't end up giving away the match to their opponents after having done all the hard work initially.
Resuming the day from 30/0, Gujarat suffered an early double jolt after they added just four runs to their overnight total. Former Test player Sanjay Bangar first sent opener Nilesh Modi (18) caught behind and three balls later trapped skipper Parthiv Patel in front on duck.
Mohnish Parmar (41) combined well with Hem Joshipura (7) to stable the innings by adding 46 runs for the fifth wicket. However, Murali Kartik (2/48) scalped both the batsmen to ignite the collapse.
Gujarat then again received a jerk at the end of the first session after losing three quick wickets in space of eight runs ending at 131 for seven needing only 19 runs with just three wickets in hands.
Gujarat had added 12-runs to their tally when Sanjay Bangar's twin blow after lunch in the 49th over reduced them to 143 for 9, still requiring nine runs for victory.
Rookie Jay Desai's (17) resolute effort denied Railways a likely victory after he settled the issue with a boundary at the end of 57th over to seal the match in favour of Gujarat.
Railways had to blame themselves for the defeat as catches win matches for any side and they dropped number of catches in their quest of victory. Had those catches been taken it would have been entirely different story.
The 35-year-old Bangar took 11 wickets in all with 6/53 in the second essay overshadowing his first innings effort of 5/54 and brought Railways to the edge of an astounding win but fate has something different in store for the gritty Railways team.
SCOREBOARD
Railways 1st innings: 260 all out
Gujarat 1st innings: 280 all out
Railways 2nd innings: 169 all out
Gujarat 2nd innings (Resumes from overnight 30 for no loss): N Modi c M Rawat b S Bangar 18, R Tabiar lbw b S Bangar 13, P Patel c S Joshi b S Bangar 0, N Patel c M Rawat b S Saxena 27, M Parmar c K Parida b M Kartik 41, H Joshipura c&b M Kartik 7, T Patel c M Rawat b S Bangar 0, J Desai not out 17, A Makda b Bangar 1, A Singh lbw b S Bangar 0, S Trivedi not out 2
Total: (9 wickets; 57 overs) 152 (2.66 runs per over)
Extras: (lb-8, w-2, nb-16) 26
FoW: 1-34, 2-34, 3-51, 4-78, 5-124, 6-127, 7-131, 8-143 and 9-143
Bowling: S Bangar 22-9-53-6 (6nb), H Singh 10-5-28-0 (3nb), S Saxena 7-5-11-1 (1w), M Kartik 17-5-48-2 (7nb) and K Parida 1-0-4-0
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