Kerala hold nerve to make maiden Ranji Trophy final

Sarwate, Saxena star with the ball to eke out two-run lead against Gujarat and make maiden Ranji Trophy final
AHMEDABAD: Kerala players took the field disgruntled on the fifth morning of the Ranji Trophy semifinal at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Friday. They felt short-changed after Gujarat used Hemang Patel at No. 5 on Day Four as a concussion substitute for Ravi Bishnoi in pursuit of 458 for a first innings lead and a place in the final.

With two runs needed and one wicket to spare in the first session of the last day, Arzan Nagwaswalla firmly clipped left-arm spinner Aditya Sarwate only to hit short-leg fielder Salman Nizar's helmet for the ball to lob to Kerala captain Sachin Baby at first slip.

After four agonising sessions over the last two days, Kerala- a state known for its football frenzy - breached a significant barrier and made their maiden Ranji Trophy final. As the on-field umpire raised his finger after consulting the square-leg umpire to declare Nagwaswalla out, jubilation broke out in the Kerala camp.

The players on the field were thrilled to bits and the support staff inside in the dugout hugged each other, knowing they had one foot in the final. Their batters duly survived the 46 overs in the second innings to end at 114/4. Talk about the drama Ranji Trophy cricket needed! One couldn't help but feel for Gujarat's despondent No. 11 Priyajitsing Jadeja who played this match and the preceding quarterfinal with a fractured left hand.

He survived 30 balls holding the bat with three fingers to take Gujarat within two runs of a first innings lead as frustration grew in the Kerala camp. But fate had something else in store. Kerala, who pipped Jammu & Kashmir to make the semifinal by eking out a one-run lead in the first innings and batting out the last day, put their resilience and temperament on display again.

Gujarat had resumed the fifth day on 429/7 with Jaymeet Patel batting on 79 and Siddharth Desai on 30 at the crease. Kerala attacked with two of India's most seasoned spinners Jalaj Saxena (4/149) and Sarwate (4/111) from both ends. Luck seemed to be going Gujarat's way after Baby spilled an easy chance off Jaymeet at cover. "I thought the game was done after dropping that crucial catch as Jaymeet was set in the middle," said Baby.

Two balls later, Jaymeet was dismissed stumped by Sarwate as the pressure got to him. The visitors maintained pressure bowling a disciplined line and length, giving Desai and the Nagwaswalla limited scope to play shots. Desai crumbled under pressure soon, who was adjudged out by the umpire following a catch by Nizar at silly point. A DRS review led to the dismissal being changed to LBW as Sarwate kept making inroads into the Gujarat batting.

Brief scores: Kerala 114 for 4 (Saxena 37*, Hingrajia 2-22) and 457 (M Azharuddeen 177*) vs Gujarat 455 (Panchal 148, J Saxena 4/147)


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