Kerala players celebrate after taking a dramatic first innings lead on the fifth day fo the Ranji Trophy semifinal against Gujarat in Ahmedabad on February 21, 2025. Kerala entered the final for the first time since making the debut 68 years ago.
| Photo Credit: R.V. Moorthy
The stage was set for a gripping finale. The odds were stacked against Kerala, with Gujarat needing just 28 runs at the start of the final day to cross the opponent’s 457, with three wickets in hand. But, the visitor dug deep to earn a slender two-run lead, enough to qualify for its first-ever Ranji Trophy final.
Jalaj Saxena was expected to be the main threat having picked four wickets on the penultimate day. But, it was the side’s other professional, Aditya Sarwate, who turned up with the winning hand.
The first hour of play was always going to be the deciding factor. Kerala’s pre-match drills involved quite a bit of close-in catching and extensive wicket-keeping. The fields were carefully curated by the spinners, with helmet-adorning players hopping around from silly point to short leg and vice versa.
Jaymeet Patel and Siddharth Desai had already displayed their defensive capabilities, combining for a solid 72-run stand. The visitor built up the pressure with some tight bowling, conceding just five runs in the first five overs of the day.
Kerala looked to have scuffed the chance to remove the well-set Jaymeet when skipper Sachin Baby dropped a comfortable catch at short cover off Sarwate’s bowling. The drop, however, didn’t prove costly. Sarwate drew Jaymeet forward a couple of balls later, beating the batter’s outside edge and Mohammed Azharuddeen showed great awareness to dislodge the bails with the batter’s foot hanging on the crease.
With the set batter out, Kerala sensed a chance. Appeals erupted for every ball that beat the bat or rapped the pad. Sarwate continued after a change in ends and looked to have driven another nail into Gujarat’s hopes when Siddharth was given out bat-pad to silly point.
The UltraEdge check following Gujarat’s review indicated that the second sound came from the bat hitting the ground and that prompted a few claps from the Gujarat dugout as the images were shown on the big screen. But, the following ball-tracking check displayed three reds, leaving Kerala just one wicket away.
Number eleven Priyajitsinh Jadeja braved a broken left hand to try and save the game for his team. A couple of outside edges off Priyajitsinh and Nagwaswalla’s smart strike rotation took the home side to just two runs shy of Kerala’s score. A tied first-innings would have sent Gujarat to the final, having accumulated more points than Kerala during the group stage.
With just one run to play with, Kerala brought all its fielders in. Nagwaswalla sensed the opportunity to tonk one over the infield and seal the deal for the host. The left-arm pacer slog-swept a Sarwate delivery onto the legside, but the ball ricocheted off short-leg fielder Salman Nizar’s helmet before nestling comfortably in Sachin’s hands at slip to send the Kerala players into delirium. Salman’s helmet, the hero of the final dismissal, was lofted up in the air by Saxena in celebration.
The lead, by the barest of margins, meant all Kerala had to do was bat out the remaining overs till the inevitable draw to seal its maiden appearance in the final. Gujarat’s spinners though refused to give in, managing to scalp four wickets post Lunch to remain in with a chance but Saxena held his nerve with a 37-run knock to take the team to 114 for four in 46 overs when the ceremonial handshake arrived.
Brief Scores
Kerala 457 and 114 for 4 in 46 overs (Jalaj Saxena 37 not out, Rohan Kunnummal 32; Manan Hingrajia 2/22, Siddharth Desai 2/45) vs Gujarat 455; 174.4 overs (Priyank Panchal 148, Jaymeet Patel 79, Aarya Desai 73; Jalaj Saxena 4/149, Aditya Sarwate 4/111). Kerala win by virtue of first innings lead.
Published – February 21, 2025 04:25 pm IST
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