Jaydev Unadkat Breaks 21-year-old Ranji Trophy Record To Take Saurashtra In Final
Saurashtra captain Jaydev Unadkat continued his dream run in the ongoing Ranji Trophy season as he came up with a match-winning spell in the semifinal for his side against Gujarat in Rajkot on Wednesday. Saurashtra beat Gujarat by 92 runs to set up a date with Bengal in the final of India’s premier first-class competition.
Jaydev Unadkat not only helped Saurashtra beat Gujarat to enter the final but also broke a 21-year-old record for the most wickets by a fast bowler in a single Ranji Trophy season. He finished the semifinal stage with a tally of 65 wickets and will have an opportunity to further bolster the tally in the final. The record was previously held by Karnataka’s Dodda Ganesh in 1998-99 season. Overall, he is second on the list of bowlers with most wickets in a Ranji Trophy which is headed by Ashutosh Aman – 68 in 2018/19.
6⃣3⃣ and counting! ??
Saurashtra captain Jaydev Unadkat becomes the pacer with the most number of wickets in a #RanjiTrophy season. ??
Follow the #GUJvSAU game live ??https://t.co/bL3yaUUHOc@paytm @saucricket @JUnadkat pic.twitter.com/vWaZYsC9G3
— BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) March 4, 2020
Jaydev Unadkat finished with a 10-wicket haul in the semifinal. After picking up three wickets in the first innings, the out-of-favour India pacer picked up 7 wickets in the 2nd innings and made sure Saurashtra reached their 2nd successive final in the Ranji Trophy.
The spell from the captain helped Saurashtra survive a fightback from Gujarat after Parthiv Patel and Chirag Gandhi added a 158-run stand in chase of 327. At the start of the final session, the match was in the balance. Gujarat were 206 for 5, still needing 121 with Parthiv and Chirag in the middle.
However, in the 67th over, Unadkat broke the back of Gujarat by dismissing Parthiv and Axar Patel off successive deliveries. He later went on to dismiss Chirag too as Gujarat were eventually all out for 234. Saurashtra will host Bengal in the final from March 9.
