Rajasthan lift first Ranji Trophy

Rajasthan 394 (Bist 77, Kanitkar 61, Bhatt 5-103)and 341 (Menaria 101, Parida 89) drew with Baroda 361 (Pinal 77, Chahar 4-79) and 28 for 4 (Chahar 3-15)

In pic: Rajasthan are jubilant after winning their first ever Ranji Trophy © ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Rajasthan became the newest team to etch their name on the Ranji Trophy, shutting Baroda out after taking the first-innings lead with a clinical display that didn't give an inch to the hosts on the final day. It capped an improbable season for Rajasthan, who rose from being last year's bottom-placed team in the Plate League to become Ranji champions in their ninth appearance in the final. Rajasthan's strength this season has been their ability to bat big, and today it was the lower order that batted Baroda into helpless disappointment.

For Baroda to have had a sniff, they needed to dismiss Rajasthan quickly. They eventually did bowl them out, but not before the visitors' lower order had frustrated them for almost two sessions. Though Ashok Menaria - who went soon after scoring his third century in three knockout games - and Rashmi Parida fell within the first hour, the tail defended stoutly in the company of wicketkeeper Rohit Jhalani, who surprisingly came in at No. 11. Each run was loudly cheered by the Rajasthan supporters and association officials, and as the lead grew, Baroda's shoulders drooped.

The Baroda bowlers were already tired after having spent more than 200 overs on the field over four days, and though they toiled away, the game was slowly slipping from their grasp. Murtuja Vahora steamed in, Bhargav Bhatt kept going on for 45 overs, but the others were steady at best. The bowlers' disappointment gave way to angry stares as half-chances went by the close-in fielders, and the last-wicket partnership between Jhalani and Pankaj Singh comprehensively deflated them. Jhalani and Pankaj added 59 in 153 deliveries, but it was the prolonged ease with which they milked the bowling that highlighted Rajasthan's domination.

When Pankaj was finally bowled by debutant Abhijit Karambelkar, the hosts needed an impossible 375 in 29 overs. Rajasthan were not done yet though, and Pankaj and Deepak Chahar gave Baroda a torrid time, striking thrice in successive overs to leave them reeling at 21 for 3. Chahar showcased his prodigious ability to swing the ball, getting a delivery to move away after angling it on leg stump, and Swapnil Singh could only edge it to a diving Aakash Chopra at second slip.

The teams decided to call off proceedings after 14 overs in the Baroda innings, but not before Pankaj and Chahar had once again displayed their worth as a strike pair, ending the tournament with 83 victims. There was no shame in defeat for Baroda, for Rajasthan were clearly the stronger and more experienced side. They would however, look back at the two dropped chances yesterday as the moment when they let the Ranji Trophy slip out of their hands, and Rajasthan never gave them a second look at it. The eventual champions knew they were the better team, but they also proved it on the big stage. -ESPNcricinfo

Rajasthan set Baroda big task

Baroda 73 for 1 (Kolsawala 46*) trail Rajasthan 394 (Bist 77, Kanitkar 61, Bhatt 5-103) by 321 runs with 9 wickets remaining

In pic: Bhargav Bhatt picked up five wickets but had to bowl 43 overs to get them © ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Bhargav Bhatt toiled his way to a well-deserved five-wicket haul, but could not prevent Rajasthan from getting close to 400, a total which looks competitive on a wicket where uneven bounce is in play, with numerous deliveries failing to rise above ankle height. Jaykishan Kolsawala led a strong reply for Baroda, but Rajasthan managed to remove his opening partner Connor Williams, and will think they hold the initiative against a line-up that is thin on experience.

That the second day saw more action after the dullness that had characterised the first was due to the batsmen taking more initiative, and the bowlers getting more help from the surface. While Bhatt was rewarded for his efforts, Murtuja Vahora got the ball to nip around and hurried the batsmen, though that was not reflected in his 36 wicketless overs that went for 108 runs.

None of Rajasthan's batsmen made a hundred, but the intent today was to look for every opportunity to score, and they added almost the same number of runs they had yesterday in fewer than two-thirds of the overs. The approach was characterised by Ashok Menaria, whose quick 45 inched Rajasthan close to the psychological mark of 400, even as the left-arm spinners Bhatt and Swapnil Singh were getting the ball to turn and bounce.

Menaria's innings was crucial as it came after Rajasthan had lost the pair of nightwatchman Vivek Yadav and Robin Bist, the latter to a ripper from Bhatt, with the score on 269. Bowling from over the wicket, Bhatt pitched one in the rough outside the right-hander's leg stump, and got it to turn sharply past the angled forward push from Bist to uproot his off stump. Like yesterday, there was turn, but it was sharper, and the unevenness of the surface showed when consecutive deliveries from offspinner Aditya Waghmode took off to reach shoulder height, the second ball beating wicketkeeper Pinal Shah as well.

Another wicket or two at that stage, and Rajasthan would have struggled to reach 350. Menaria showed the importance of being positive on this track, starting with two swept fours off Bhatt that went either side of the deep-backward square leg fielder. In the next over, he hit Waghmode for fours on either side of the wicket, and two overs later, looted 12 runs from Swapnil Singh with a six over midwicket and a four through extra cover. With Menaria dismantling the bowling and Rashmi Parida looking solid at the other end, Rajasthan added 120 runs in the first session, and were eyeing a total in the region of 450.

Baroda, who had started to wilt under Menaria's assault, came back with purpose after lunch, tying down the batsmen. Bhatt got Menaria pushing hard at one that gripped and bounced to take the inside edge, the ball then striking the pad before ending up in the hands of forward short leg.

Parida ensured Rajasthan did at least get close to 400, playing safely, but using the steer, glance and sweep to pick up boundaries. He brought up his half-century with another sweep off Bhatt, but the tail did not offer him much support. Rohit Jhalani got a beauty from Sankalp Vohra, and Deepak Chahar and Pankaj Singh went to back to deliveries that came in and were bowled, though the ball that got Pankaj did not get up above his ankle. Bhatt bowled Parida with a quick yorker-length delivery in his 43rd over for his fourth five-wicket haul in ten first-class games.

Pankaj and Chahar have formed a potent new-ball combination this season, but Kolsawala and Williams negotiated them safely. Both chose to defend the seamers mostly on the back foot. Kolsawala was a treat to watch, especially when he drove straight down the ground and through extra cover. An overly defensive approach could have played into Rajasthan's hands, but Kolsawala made sure that didn't happen.

Rajasthan did end the day on a positive note, when Williams pushed at legspinner Yadav, playing for turn where there wasn't any, and Aakash Chopra took a sharp diving chance at slip. The pressure of a final showed on Kedar Devdhar, who had got a pair in the semi-final, and looked anxious to get off the mark. But Rajasthan made him wait for 23 deliveries, and he finally got off the mark courtesy a misfield at mid-on. Rajasthan will hope the uneven nature of the track creates further doubts in the minds of the Baroda batsmen tomorrow, for whom 394 appears miles away at the moment. -ESPNcricinfo

Kanitkar, Bist build platform for Rajasthan

Rajasthan 198 for 3 (Kanitkar 61, Bist 56*) v Baroda

In pic: Hrishikesh Kanitkar scored 61 to help Rajasthan build a solid platform on the first day of the Ranjit Trophy final © ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Baroda did what Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu had done against Rajasthan, opting to bowl, and just like in those two matches, the visitors built a solid platform on the first day of the Ranji Trophy final, albeit at a snail's pace. On a dry and flat wicket that, contrary to expectations, played low and slow, Rajasthan set themselves up for a big score on the second day, though captain Hrishikesh Kanitkar's late dismissal evened things out a bit.

Kanitkar and Robin Bist led a calculated batting effort, in which each of the four specialist batsman played more than 100 deliveries. The Rajasthan batsmen blunted the inexperienced Baroda attack and inched along at around two runs per over for the first two sessions. Playing themselves in was the target, and Rajasthan's intent to bat big was evident from the fact that only one boundary came in the first 20 overs. But Baroda did not possess the venom to prise out the watchful openers on the flat deck.

The wind that was expected to aid movement did not arrive, the bald wicket offered no help either, and left-arm seamer Sankalp Vohra's first delivery died down on its way to wicketkeeper Pinal Shah. Pinal ultimately stood up to two of the three Baroda seamers, Vohra and debutant Abhijit Karambelkar. Only Murtuja Vahora managed to get decent carry, running in hard whenever he was given the ball. It was too much to expect 20-year-old left-arm spinner Bhargav Bhatt to take the wickets on a first-day track that did not take much turn, though he toiled for 23 overs.

The openers fell against the run of play after having played themselves in. Aakash Chopra and Vineet Saxena had looked in no trouble from the outset, looking to leave as many deliveries as possible outside the off stump, and defending when they had to. Chopra, in fact, did not hit a boundary till his 64th delivery. He fell trying to sweep a delivery from Bhatt that was a touch full for the shot, and Saxena was run out freakishly, having walked out of the crease to do some gardening while the ball was adjudged to be still in play.

Coming together at 73 for 2, Kanitkar and Bist consolidated, adding 117 in a partnership that had begun to assume threatening proportions when Kanitkar fell four overs before stumps, looking for a scoring opportunity and guiding an Aditya Waghmode delivery to a diving Connor Williams at slip.

Kanitkar was the most positive of the batsmen, driving and cutting cleanly whenever he got a loose delivery, and offering a dead bat to the others. Bist was extremely cautious to begin with, remaining on 7 for 26 deliveries before he gave Waghmode a sudden charge and lifted him over midwicket for his first boundary. Both batsmen looked to step out against the spinners, especially after tea, as the ball was not coming on to the bat.

Despite Kanitkar's fall, Bist was in complete control at the other end, and his wicket will be key. If Baroda find a way to bundle Rajasthan out quickly and take strike early on Wednesday, they could make the visitors pay for their slow approach. -ESPNcricinfo