On the second day of the Ranji Trophy final, Kerala made a solid start, reaching 131 for 3 wickets. They are still 248 runs behind Vidarbha’s total of 379. Vidarbha’s innings was boosted by Danish Malewar’s impressive score of 154 and a resilient last-wicket partnership of 44 runs.
Vidarbha started the day at 254 for 4 and added runs quickly in the morning. However, Kerala fought back, and Nedumankuzhy Basil dismissed centurion Malewar. Vidarbha then lost a couple more wickets quickly, going from 290 for 5 to 297 for 7. Later, partnerships helped Vidarbha increase their score. Akshay Karnewar and Akshay Wadkar added 36 runs before Jalaj Saxena broke the partnership by taking Karnewar’s wicket. Soon after, Eden Apple Tom dismissed Wadkar, leaving Vidarbha at nine wickets down.
Kerala hoped to end Vidarbha’s innings quickly, but the last-wicket pair offered resistance. Nachiket Bhute, batting at number 11, scored 32 runs off 38 balls. MD Nidheesh finally ended the innings by taking Bhute’s wicket, finishing with 3 wickets for 61 runs. Apple Tom also took 3 wickets for 102 runs.
Kerala’s batting innings began poorly, as Darshan Nalkande dismissed opener Rohan Kunnummal in the first over and then removed Akshay Chandran in the third over, leaving Kerala at 14 for 2. Aditya Sarwate, promoted to number 3, scored a half-century and formed a 93-run partnership for the third wicket with Ahammed Imran, taking the team past 100 runs.
Towards the end of the day’s play, Yash Thakur dismissed Imran for 37 runs. Sachin Baby and Sarwate then ensured no further wickets fell before the end of the day.
Summary: Kerala 131/3 (Aditya Sarwate 66*) trails Vidarbha 379 (Danish Malewar 154, Karun Nair 86; MD Nidheesh 3/61) by 248 runs.
