Things unfolded in an unpredictable manner on Day 2 of the Ranji Trophy final being played in Nagpur. Vidarbha fell well short of where they wanted to be despite a desperate last-wicket partnership and Kerala could not reach a real position of strength either. In reply to the home team’s 379, the visiting side were 131/3 at stumps. Difficult to tell at this point, but a slight edge for Vidarbha.
Vidarbha thought they would make merry and bat out the second day when they negotiated almost the entire first hour without losing a wicket. Danish Malewar was going great guns and Yash Thakur provided good company in the role of a night-watchman. It was smooth sailing, until Nedumankuzhy Basil got rid of Malewar when the batter was on 153.
It was a tremendous effort from the 21-year-old playing his first season at this level. Probably, the importance of this knock will be fully realised when this match gets over. But, it caused a mini bedlam in the Vidarbha innings. From 290/4, they slipped to 335/9. The last-wicket stand of 44 runs between Harsh Dubey and Nachiket Bhute was a boon out of the blue.
Darshan Nalkande, whose appearance at No. 3 in the Vidarbha innings a day earlier had raised eyebrows, made his presence felt in a more meaningful way by sending back the Kerala openers. Rohan Kunnummal played an ugly shot to bring about his own downfall and Akshay Chandran paid the price of leaving that gap between bat and pad. At 14/2, the first-time finalists were in trouble.
The tale of sending in bowlers to bat ahead of specialist batters in this match continued. Left-arm spinner Aditya Sarwate, a Vidarbha player until the last season, was Kerala’s surprise No. 3 and he justified his promotion up the order with a composed and unbeaten knock of 66. He can bat. This was his 13th first-class half-century and he also has two centuries to his credit.
That partnership of 93 Sarwate had with Ahammed Imran (37) kept Kerala in the match. Playing his second game, Imran paid for a silly pull towards the end of the day. It was a big break for Vidarbha and a timely one. Kerala would like to think they have it in them to overhaul the total they are chasing. It’s easier said than done though. The runs Vidarbha’s last-wicket pair added could prove to be vital.
Brief scores: Vidarbha 379 (Danish Malewar 153, Karun Nair 86, MD Nidheesh 3/61, Eden Apple Tom 3/102) vs Kerala 131/3 (Aditya Sarwate 66 batting).