🌳Karun goes for the sweep against Sarwate, placing it towards deep square for a couple, edging closer to a well-earned century. The next one grips and bounces, beating his outside edge as he lunges forward in defence.
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🌳Karun goes for the sweep against Sarwate, placing it towards deep square for a couple, edging closer to a well-earned century. The next one grips and bounces, beating his outside edge as he lunges forward in defence.
♎Karun steps out against Sarwate and sends it soaring over mid-on for a six! And again! Another confident charge down the track, this time lofting it over mid-off for back-to-back maximums.
ꦇThat brings up the 150-run partnership between the two. A delicate flick past the keeper adds three more to the total.
🧸Eden returns to the attack. Fires one full down the leg side, slipping past the keeper’s dive, but he manages to get a fingertip on it to save extra runs, just a single bye.
ℱMalewar finds the gap at deep midwicket and scampers back for a couple. And there it is, Four. A full delivery outside off, crisply driven past mid-off to the ropes. A tidy over from Jalaj otherwise, conceding five runs.
♔In 39th over, Nidheesh to Karun, extra bounce off the surface, catches the edge and rolls away to third man. The umpire steps in with a first warning for Nidheesh for running on the danger area of the pitch.
🐟Nidheesh fires a full delivery on the pads, Malewar neatly flicks it to deep fine leg for a single. Short and wide next up—cracked through the offside for a boundary!
Vidarbha head into the lunch break in a strong position despite losing two early wickets in the session. Openers Parth Rekhade and Dhruv Shorey fell cheaply, but Danish Malewar and Karun Nair took control, stitching together a composed partnership to steady the innings. The duo rotated the strike well, found timely boundaries, and guided Vidarbha past the 100-run lead.
💞Karun had a stroke of luck when Akshay Chandran put down a catch at slip, something Kerala might regret as the game progresses, given his ability to make the opposition pay.
🅺Meanwhile, Malewar, fresh off a superb 153 in the first innings, looks well set and will be eyeing another big knock. Kerala will need quick breakthroughs post-lunch to keep Vidarbha from running away with the game. Join us in 40 minutes for the second session.
🌟Karun Nair inches closer to his fifty, a reassuring sight for Vidarbha. Nidheesh returns to the attack, sticking to over the wicket, unlike Basil. He sends down a slower ball outside off, but Danish resists the temptation to drive. A tidy maiden over.
ౠJalaj continues from the other end, and this time, there’s a slip in place. Some sharp turn for the off-spinner, Karun gets an edge, but it trickles through where leg slip was positioned last over. A single to keep the scoreboard ticking.
💃Karun Nair and Danish Malewar have been rock-solid since Vidarbha’s early setbacks, steadily building the lead to 110. Their resilience has tested Kerala’s patience, denying them any breakthroughs. If this duo can survive the afternoon session, Vidarbha will be firmly in control.
꧟Basil fires it full on the pads, and Malewar neatly flicks it away to deep square leg—two runs comfortably taken. Just two off the over, but wait, trouble for Basil. The umpire steps in with an official warning for walking onto the danger area. That’s one he’ll need to watch.
ܫJalaj is back from the other end. Karun shapes up to defend a back-of-a-length delivery, but it kicks off his body and rolls toward third man. No slip in place, so an easy single. And here we go, drama. Jalaj rips one into the rough, and it turns square. That one had some serious bite.
♍Eden digs one in back of a length, and Malewar stands tall, punching it crisply through cover, threading the gap beautifully. Same length next up, but straighter, and he calmly tucks it to deep square for a single. Oh, what a moment.
🦋Extra bounce, catches Karun’s edge, and, DROPPED. Akshay Chandran at first slip had the easiest of chances, but down it goes. He won’t want to see that replay again! Meanwhile, a neat little tuck to fine leg off Sarwate brings up a hard-earned fifty-run partnership. The fightback is well and truly on.
ꦺEden extracts extra bounce, getting one to rise off the surface and strike Karun on the gloves. It was set to be a maiden over from the pacer, but a no-ball on the final delivery spoils it.
🐓Eden Apple Tom comes into the attack. He delivers a back-of-a-length ball, angling it into Karun, who defends it towards slip.
🐟Jalaj fires in an arm ball, beating Karun Nair’s outside edge, sparking an appeal for a catch. The umpire remains unmoved. Karun stays cautious, playing inside the line once more before nudging one down to long-on for a single.
༺Vidarbha’s second innings is underway, with Parth Rekhade and Dhruv Shorey taking strike. MD Nidheesh has the new ball in hand, looking to make early inroads.
🃏There’s a hint of movement in the air, shaping into the left-hander, but the length isn’t quite right yet, too short to draw the batter forward. Rekhade pushes one to cover, getting Vidarbha off the mark. Nidheesh adjusts, goes fuller to Shorey, forcing a solid forward defense.
𝄹And there’s the first boundary! A back-of-a-length delivery seams in sharply, cutting Shorey in half, but luck is on his side, the inside edge races past the keeper and finds the fence.
Sachin Baby braved the toughest conditions on Friday, grinding it out with patience and determination. But just when Kerala needed him to carry on, one shot undid it all, one that might linger in his mind for a long time.
With Kerala still 55 runs adrift of Vidarbha’s first-innings total of 379, Sachin, sitting on 98, went for the big one. He dropped to one knee, looking to slog-sweep Parth Rekhade, perhaps eyeing both the scoreboard and a personal milestone. Instead, all he could do was watch in dismay as the ball soared towards deep mid-wicket, straight to Karun Nair.
🧸That was it, not just for Sachin (235 balls, 345 minutes, 10 fours) but for Kerala’s last real partnership at the VCA Stadium. The innings wrapped up in the dying moments of the third day, Kerala bowled out for 342.
🐼The surface has plenty of marks and with rough patches, it could get very difficult to bat on Day 4 and 5. Vidarbha have a 37-run lead and will look to bat well, while Kerala will eye to take early wickets and put pressure on the middle-order.
Harsh Dubey (Vidarbha) - 69 wickets (2024/25)*
Ashutosh Aman (Bihar) - 68 wickets (2018/19)
🍌Jaydev Unadkat (Saurashtra) - 67 wickets (2019/20)
The Vidarbha vs Kerala, Ranji Trophy 💟final will be available to stream live on the JioHotstar app and website in India. It will also be broadcast on the Sports 18 network in India.