Vidarbha chased 79 against defending champions Jammu and Kashmir from 26 for 6 and won their Ranji Trophy Elite Group A match in Srinagar by three wickets. Nachiket Bhute’s 5 for 48 set up the chase, and Harsh Dubey and Bhute finished it unbeaten.
Srinagar, India: Vidarbha were 26 for 6 after 10.1 overs, still 53 runs short of a target of 79, and the defending champions had them on the ropes at the Sher-i-Kashmir Stadium. Instead, Harsh Dubey and Nachiket Bhute stayed unbeaten, added the final 26 runs and carried Vidarbha to 81 for 7 in 22.5 overs.
Samarth and Gurbani build a lead
The chase was small only because of what Vidarbha did earlier. Jammu and Kashmir made 260, with Kawalpreet Singh scoring 96 off 176 balls. Vidarbha replied with 305. Ravikumar Samarth made 143 off 202 balls, and number ten Rajneesh Gurbani finished unbeaten on 64 after adding 136 with him. Umar Nazir Mir took 4 for 56 and Sunil Kumar 4 for 73, but the late stand gave Vidarbha a first-innings lead of 45.
Bhute tightens the screw
Bhute, who took 3 for 41 in the first innings, was the difference in the second. He returned 5 for 48 as Jammu and Kashmir were bowled out for 123 in 39.2 overs. Abdul Samad hit 39 off 30 balls and Qamran Iqbal made 38 off 111, and Dubey took 2 for 3. Vidarbha needed 79.
A chase that nearly slipped
Sunil Kumar made it a contest. He took 4 for 30 in the chase, with Mir picking up two more, and Vidarbha lost seven wickets in all. Mandar Mahale made 25 off 47 balls, but it was Dubey, unbeaten on 22 off 40 balls, and Bhute, unbeaten on 13, who closed it out.
What the win means
The result arrived on the third day of a four-day fixture. Bhute finished with eight wickets in the match, and Vidarbha have now won both of their Elite Group A games this season. Jammu and Kashmir are yet to win this season, having drawn with Madhya Pradesh before this defeat. The finish adds to a round that has already produced Sai Kishore’s hat-trick for Tamil Nadu and Chinmay Sutar’s unbeaten 400 for Mizoram.
Result: Vidarbha 305 (Ravikumar Samarth 143, Rajneesh Gurbani 64*) and 81 for 7 (Harsh Dubey 22*) beat Jammu and Kashmir 260 (Kawalpreet Singh 96) and 123 (Nachiket Bhute 5/48) by three wickets. Ranji Trophy Elite Group A, Sher-i-Kashmir Stadium, Srinagar, 18-20 October 2026.
