Left-arm spinner Rakesh Dhruv picked his first ten-wicket haul in first-class cricket as Gujarat posted an impressive eight-wicket win over Rajasthan in their Group A Ranji Trophy match in Ahmedabad on Tuesday.
Dhruv finished with match figures of 14 for 96, eight of the wickets coming in the second innings at the Sardar Patel stadium, Motera.
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Chasing a target of 102 runs, Gujarat needed a little over 25 overs and lost two wickets in the process to post their first victory of the season and jump to 15 points after drawing five games in a row.
Rajasthan remained at the bottom of the table with five points, hardly the performance expected of the two-time defending champions.
Dhruv spun a web around the Rajasthan batsmen on the spinning Motera strip to knock the daylight out of the visitors.
Resuming the final day at 29 for two, Rajasthan kept losing wickets at regular intervals and only five batsmen reached double figures.
Robin Bist (31) and skipper Hrishikesh Kanitkar (23) were the only two who waged a grim battle, as the visitors folded for 119 in their second essay after having conceded an 18-run lead in their first innings.
Rajasthan's batsmen were flummoxed by the flight and guile of Dhruv as they somehow managed to reach the three-digit mark.
Gujarat, while chasing the target, were never in trouble, with opener Smit Patel scoring a 65-ball 47, laced with eight fours.
Brief Scores:
Rajasthan: 294 & 119 in 62.2 overs (Robin Bist 31, Hrishikesh Kanitkar 23; Rakesh Dhruv 8-31).
Gujarat: 312 & 105-2 in 25.2 overs (Smit Patel 47; Aniket Choudhary 1-16).
Points: Gujarat 6, Rajasthan 0.
