Kerala show the value of 1-run lead, hold off Jammu & Kashmir to reach Ranji Trophy semifinals
Sachin Baby-led Kerala batted out the entire fifth day and advanced to the semifinals by virtue of a valuable 1-run lead.
Sachin Baby-led Kerala batted out the entire fifth day and advanced to the semifinals by virtue of a valuable 1-run lead.
Sachin Baby-led Kerala batted out the entire fifth day and advanced to the semifinals by virtue of a valuable 1-run lead.
At a time when Test matches struggle to go beyond three days, Kerala created an incredible cricketing memory by playing out the entire fifth day of their Ranji Trophy quarterfinal against Jammu & Kashmir to reach the semifinals, only for the second time ever, after 2018-19.
Sachin Baby-led Kerala resisted the urge to try and chase an improbable target of 399. The other option of not getting bowled out was equally daunting. Yet that is the path Kerala chose against J&K, who had punched above their weight to reach the quarterfinals.
Kerala's intention on the final day was clear: Play for the draw. The logic was simple: They had an invaluable 1-run lead, and in Ranji knockouts, first-innings leads are decisive if the match ends in a draw. Kerala ended the match at 295/6; it was 104 runs short of the target, but the draw was sufficient to ensure the semifinals.
There were two remarkable partnerships on the day. Baby and Akshay Chandran forged a 58-run stand from 259 deliveries in the first session. But the most vital one came between Salman Nizar (44 from 162 balls) and Mohammed Azharuddeen (67 from 118) for the seventh wicket. They forged an unbeaten partnership of 115 off 257 deliveries. Left-hander Nizar, Kerala's hero from the first innings, whose century gave them the priceless lead, stood like a rock, while Azhar batted more courageously.
But accumulating runs was never on Kerala’s agenda, the aim was to survive. Kerala batters hardly tried to make runs on a wicket conducive to strokeplay.
Tale of three sessions
Kerala resumed at 100/2 and went into lunch at 146/3 from 67 overs, having collected just 46 runs from the first session at a strike rate of 1.48. While the opening session belonged to Kerala, post-lunch, J&K bounced back, claiming three wickets, including the prized one of captain Sachin Baby (48 off 162). Jalaj Saxena (18) and Aditya Sarwate (8) did not last longer.
J&K got the initial breakthrough after toiling hard for two hours when Sahil Lotra forced Akshay Chandran (48 from 183 balls) to lunge into a forward defence and edge one off his pads to Shubham Khajuria at short leg.
Earlier on the day, Chandran and Baby left almost everything pitched wide and confidently defended even as J&K kept an aggressive field, with a short leg, a silly point, and a slip in place for pacers and spinners alike. The only time Kerala batters tried to be aggressive in the morning session was when Abid Mushtaq came in shortly before lunch. Baby fetched a pair of boundaries off the left-arm spinner's bowling.
In the third session, J&K skipper Paras Dogra took the second new ball and handed it over to his spinners, but they couldn't turn the game back in their favour. With the post-tea session thinning down, Dogra went for broke by reintroducing pace. Yudhvir, who dismissed the Kerala openers on the penultimate day, operated from one end. But Azharuddeen pulled him for a six, the first of Kerala's second innings, and then did the same to Auqib Nabi a few overs later, to keep the pressure on the bowling unit.
Mumbai, Vidarbha and Gujarat had confirmed their spots in the semifinals. Kerala will play Gujarat in the semifinals starting February 17.
Brief scores: J&K 280 & 399/9 dec vs Kerala 281 & 295/6 in 126 overs (Mohammed Azharuddeen 67 not out, Salman Nizar 44 not out, Akshay Chandran 48, Sachin Baby 48, Rohan Kunnummal 36, Yudhvir Singh 2/61, Sahil Lotra 2/50, Abid Mushtaq 2/56). Stumps Day 5