Kerala makes history by securing a spot in the Ranji Trophy final; Vidarbha triumphs over Mumbai

Mumbai: Displaying remarkable grit and determination, Kerala secured a sensational victory in their second consecutive knock-out match to advance to their first-ever Ranji Trophy final.

After pipping Jammu & Kashmir in the quarter-final on the back of a one-run first-innings lead, Kerala again had their backs to the wall in their semi-final match against Gujarat in the fight for the all-important first innings lead.

Needing to pick up three wickets while having just 28 runs to defend at the start of the final day’s play at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium, the Kerala team was under pressure. Their bowlers and fielders, however, rose to the occasion to clinch a vital two-run first-innings lead.

Kerala had batted well to amass 457 in the first innings but Gujarat responded to the challenge by getting to 429/7 at the end of Day 4 with Jaymeet Patel well set on 74 and Siddharth Desai batting on 24.

However, Kerala’s left-arm spinner Aditya Sarwate proved to be the hero by picking up all the remaining wickets to fall as Kerala bowled Gujarat out for 455.

Kerala will play Vidarbha in the final after the later beat Mumbai by 80 runs in Nagpur. The final will be played in Nagpur from February 26.

The day didn’t start well for Kerala as the well-set Jaymeet was dropped by their captain Sachin Baby at extra cover, with 23 runs needed to draw level. Two balls later, Sarwate’s delivery from around the stumps beat Jaymeet and keeper Mohammed Azharuddeen effected a fine stumping.

Multiple replays had to be taken as play was held for almost three minutes before Kerala could celebrate as the umpire ruled the batter’s foot was on the line when the bails came off.

It was still anybody’s game. No 10 Arzan Nagwaswalla picked up a four with a backfoot punch to cover to bring down the target to 14.

With 11 needed to equal the scores, Siddarth, who had a valiant vigil of 183 deliveries, was given out caught at silly point but opted for the DRS. The reviews showed no spike but the ball tracking did him in as it showed the ball had pitched in line and would have gone to hit the leg stump ruling him leg-before wicket.

Gujarat’s last wicket pair of Nagaswalla and Priyajitsing Jadeja survived some anxious moments and got them to within two runs of levelling the scores.

Now, it was a case of only one hit needed to make it through. Gujarat only needed a draw to advance to the final because of having more points in the group stages.

Nagwaswalla almost got his team home when Sarwate tossed one up. Nagwaswalla went for a slog but didn’t connect properly and his thick inside edge hit short-leg fielder Nizar flush on the helmet before lobbing up to Baby who completed the catch at slip to trigger the celebrations among the Kerala players.

Nagaswalla had struck the ball hard and had Nizar not shown the courage to stand still, the ball most probably would have deflected safely off the helmet for runs. It was a hard blow and Nizar was duly stretchered off for a concussion check.

Sarwate was the hero of the day, ending with four wickets for 111 runs while veteran Saxena put in another lion-hearted display bowling 71 overs in the second innings and taking four wickets. He shone with the bat too, denying Gujarat any opening in the second innings with a stubborn 37 not out at No 4 to ensure a draw.

Vidarbha beat Mumbai

In Nagpur, Shardul Thakur’s fighting 66 was in vain as Mumbai crashed to defeat against hosts Vidarbha. Left-arm spinner Harsh Dubey took a fine five-wicket haul taking his season’s tally to 66. On the final day, Dubey claimed three wickets to add to his two from day 4, to bowl out Mumbai for 325 in their chase of a challenging target of 406.

Shardul and Shams Mulani added 103 runs for the seventh wicket before the latter was run out for 46 to end Mumbai’s hopes.

This marks Vidarbha’s fourth appearance in the Ranji Trophy final, with previous titles coming in 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons.

Brief scores:

Kerala 457 & 114 for 4 (Jalaj Saxena 37*, Rohan Kunnummal 32; Manan Hingrajia 2/22, Siddharth Desai 2/45) vs Gujarat 455 (Priyank Panchal 148, Jaymeet Patel 79, Aarya Desai 73; Jalaj Saxena 4/149, Aditya Sarwate 4/111). Kerala won by virtue of first innings lead.

Vidarbha 383 & 292 beat Mumbai 270 & 325 all out in 97.5 overs (Shardul Thakur 66, Shams Mulani 46; Harsh Dubey 5/127) by 80 runs.

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