Vidarbha left-arm spinner Aditya Sarwate bowls rare 53 runs in nine-over spell in Ranji Trophy
Aditya Sarwate finished with figures of 9-8-6-4, helping Vidarbha bowl out Manipur for a paltry 75 in the first innings.
New Delhi: Vidarbha spinner Aditya Sarwate achieved a unique feat as the left spinner bowled a whopping 53 dot balls in his nine-over spell against Manipur in their ongoing Ranji Trophy Round 2 encounter at the ADSA Railways Cricket Ground in Vallabh Vidyanagar. Out of a possible 54 balls, Sarwate was hit for runs in just one ball, setting up a six that was hit by Bikash Singh. During his nine overs, Sarwate bowled eight first overs, a feat in itself in Indian domestic cricket.
However, Sarwate didn't have to wait long as he fired Bikash soon after. Sarwate's 4/8 also helped Vidarbha bowl out Manipur for just 75 in the first innings. Besides Sarwate, Aditya Thakare also picked up five wickets and finished with figures of 5/32 in his 9.3 overs.
The Maharashtra pacer dismissed Nitesh Sedai, Langlonyamba Meitan Keishangbam, Prafullomani Singh, Rex Rajkumar and Lamabam Singh. Rajneesh Gurbani took the other wicket for Vidarbha. With the bat, Sarwate was Vidarbha's savior as his 69 off 82 balls saved the team after a mini collapse.
Vidarbha were all out for 230 in the first innings to take a lead of 155 runs. The 34-year-old Sarwate, who made his first-class debut in 2015, has played 52 matches so far (before the match against Manipur), scored 1603 runs and picked up 239 wickets. His List A record features 422 runs and 38 wickets from 35 matches. He has also played 18 T20s and taken 18 wickets.