Jalaj Saxena was leaving the field after the end of the Gujarat innings. There was a helmet in his right hand raised above in an expression of triumph. That protective equipment will become an important exhibit if the Kerala Cricket Association ever builds a museum. A rebound off that helmet worn by Salman Nizar at short-leg carried to slip, which gave Kerala a decisive first-innings lead of two runs.
The state mad about football made its maiden entry to the final of a senior men’s event in cricket, thanks to that last-gasp ‘header’ in a drama-filled first 20 overs on the fifth and final day. Gujarat needed 29 runs to take the lead and Kerala three wickets. Gujarat’s best hope Jaymeet Patel was ruled stumped in the sixth over after numerous TV replays and the visiting side sprang back to life.
There were dropped chances, the odd boundaries and cries of anguish in Ahmedabad. Siddharth Desai got a decision for caught overturned through DRS, only for ball tracker to show he was leg-before. The last pair added nine runs. With victory a stroke away, Arjan Nagaswalla swung his bat and got a chunk of it on the ball, which made a freak and fateful detour.Nizar was hit on the forehead and taken for precautionary tests.
Expected to cause damage on the fourth and fifth days, with fellow outstation professional and off-spinner Jalaj Saxena, Aditya Sarwate had taken just one wicket a day earlier. Saxena had done his part by claiming four. The left-arm spinner took all three wickets on Friday and began the slump by sending back Patel, who was standing between the two teams.
Kerala had to bat out the day and did that without facing nervous moments. Their strategy of going slow and putting up a big total in the first innings was narrowly vindicated in this match. They chose an unusual combination, with specialist batters at No 7 and 8. They are likely to stick to that ploy in the final against Vidarbha in Nagpur unless Nizar fails to recover.
In Ahmedabad: Kerala 457 & 114/4 drew with Gujarat 455 (Priyank Panchal 148, Jaymeet Patel 79, Aarya Desai 73, Aditya Sarwate 4/111, Jalaj Saxena 4/149). Kerala advance on first-innings lead.
Vidarbha in final again
In Nagpur, Mumbai’s season ended on an ironically familiar note. It was the lower-order again which refused to give up and kept them in the improbable chase of 406 for longer than expected. From 83/3 overnight, the total became 124/6. Like they had all season following top and middle-order failures, the bowlers resisted. But the target was too steep and Vidarbha won by 80 runs.
Shardul Thakur (66) brought up his fourth fifty of the season to go with a century. Shams Mulani fell four short of what would have been a third fifty. He also has a century. Tanush Kotian (26) made a contribution and so did No. 10 Mohit Awasthi (34) and Royston Dias (23). The last-wicket partnership fetched 52 runs. Just that Mumbai’s batters didn’t get going at all.
Vidarbha will get another shot at the title after having lost to Mumbai in the final last year. Winners in 2017-18 and 2018-19, they have many new faces. Yash Rathod is third on the batting chart for the season with 933 runs. The left-hander needs 11 more to go top. Left-arm spinner Harsh Dubey is the highest wicket-taker with 66 scalps. They would like to make home advantage count in the final.
In Nagpur: Vidarbha 383 & 292 beat Mumbai 270 & 325 (Shardul Thakur 66, Harsh Dubey 5/127) by 80 runs.