Captain Sachin's rush of blood moment triggers Kerala collapse, Vidarbha steal 37-run lead
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Captain Sachin Baby fell just two runs short of a century after leading the charge on Friday, day three of the Ranji Trophy final against Vidarbha in Nagpur. That led to a collapse, as Kerala lost their remaining three wickets with just 18 more runs added.
From a comfortable position of taking the lead, Kerala fell 37 runs short of Vidarbha's first innings score of 379. The Kerala innings folded for 342. The Kerala camp might want to revisit the final overs of Vidarbha's innings where they allowed Nachiket Bhute and Harsh Dubey to add 44 runs for the tenth wicket, which has come back to bite them now.
Playing his 100th first-class match, Sachin went for a slog sweep off Parth Rekhade while batting on 98. The left-hander failed to get the desired connection that could have taken the red-ball into the stands and turned his knock into Kerala cricket's folklore. But instead, Sachin was caught in the deep by Karun Nair, a Bengaluru-Malayali who was so close to joining the Kerala squad two seasons ago when Karnataka let him go.
It was a tragic end to a well-crafted knock that had given Kerala much hope against the two-time winners. As Sachin sat on his haunches, cursing himself for throwing away the precious wicket, Kerala were 55 runs away from taking a first-inning lead.
Following Sachin's untimely dismissal, Kerala went into a defensive mindset, and veteran Jalaj Saxena (28) was uncharacteristically bowled, through his defence while attempting to paddle-sweep Rekhade. Teenager Eden Apple Tom gave his best, defending purposefully before getting bowled by Rekhade for a valiant 10 off 52 deliveries.
Left-arm spinner Rekhade finished with 3/65, the best of Vidarbha bowlers. But his younger teammate Harsh Dubey, who also claimed three in the first innings, etched his name onto the history books by becoming the highest wicket-taker in a Ranji Trophy season (69).
Dubey dismissed Sarwate (79) and removed Salman Nizar to a mighty turner that pitched in the rough outside off and cut in to hit the pads. Kerala lost a review in the process, while Dubey equalled the record of 68 wickets with Ashutosh Aman of Bihar. Aman, also a left-arm spinner, achieved the feat in the 2018-19 season. Later in the third session, by trapping M D Nidheesh leg before, Dubey surpassed Aman.
Earlier, Darshan Nalkande's pace, aided by the new ball, led to the dismissal of Mohammed Azharuddeen, Kerala's hero from the semifinal. Azhar was trapped leg before for 34, ending a 59-run partnership for the sixth wicket. Kerala were 219/5 in 70.4 overs at lunch.
Sarwate, who joined Kerala this season after winning two titles with Vidarbha, had resumed on a fifty that he crafted so bravely on the second day. He was resolute in the crease against Nachiket Bhute and Yash Thakur, the latter in particular, who bowled a much straighter line.
There were a couple of close leaves that left the Vidarbha players wondering what if, but Sarwate kept his bat away from danger. Until Dubey, the youngster who replaced him in the Vidarbha squad, got into the act.
After producing a few edges that fell agonisingly close to the close-in fielders, he eventually got the breakthrough when a slow one hit the rough and took Sarwate by surprise, popping an edge to silly point. The Nagpur native walked back after a valiant 79 off 185 deliveries.
Sachin Baby and Sarwate began Day 3 briskly by scoring 34 runs in the first hour. The duo ensured that Vidarbha bowlers did not get the upper hand by going into a defensive mode. They rotated the strike at every opportunity, even taking some risky singles along the way. Their 50-run partnership came in 110 balls.
Kerala are playing their maiden Ranji Trophy final, while Vidarbha are aiming their third title.
Brief scores: Vidarbha 379 vs Kerala 342 in 125 overs (Sachin Baby 98, Aditya Sarwate 79, Ahammed Imran 37, Mohammed Azharuddeen 34, Darshan Nalkande 3/52, Parth Rekhade 3/65, Harsh Dubey 2/88). Stumps on Day 3