Kerala had a great day at work, finishing the second day of the Ranji Trophy 2024-25 final with 131/3 following Aditya Sarwate‘s undefeated half-century at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur.
When they returned at 254/4, Vidarbha’s innings had started the day. By swinging over the line to hit the ball over the deep square leg fence for a maximum off the last delivery of the 90th over of the innings, Danish Malewar continued where he left off. But the promising young player was dismissed for 153, his career-highest First-Class score, after a nip-backer.
In order to retain their ground till lunch, Vidarbha’s tail tried its hardest to score runs and move the score along with a mix of smart strike rotation and sporadic boundaries. Vidarbha reached 379 just 13 deliveries into the second session, when Nachiket Bhute was removed. Eden Apple Tom and MD Nidheesh both finished with three wickets each.
With Rohan Kunnummal being removed on the fifth ball of the innings, Kerala’s batting got off to the most unlucky start possible. As Darshan Nalkande caught Kunnummal off surprise, he attempted to adapt to the late inswing and noticed the stump bails becoming dislodged. Akshay Chandran hit Yash Thakur for three boundaries, but the former was castled in the next over when another delivery angled in.
Having miscalculated his length too many times, Thakur was quickly removed off the attack. In order to get their side to Tea without any more dents, Sarwate and Ahammed Imran joined forces. In the third session, the two got into a groove, stroking the ball through gaps to keep the runs coming.
Kerala reached their team hundred in the same over that Sarwate reached his 13th First Class half-century. At midwicket, the replacement fielder, Aman Mokhade, held onto Imran’s errant draw.
In order to keep his team in the game heading into Day 3, captain Sachin Baby had to negate the remaining overs of the day, which made it a challenging time. Then he managed to fend himself through.
Playing in their first Ranji Trophy final, Kerala finished the day with 131/3 in 39 overs. Up till last year, Sarwate, who played for Vidarbha, was undefeated at 66 off 120 deliveries. The expectation would be for him to continue the fine work with the skipper.
India
