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Day 3 Review: Kerala progressed to the semis with an easy win over Gujarat. On a difficult wicket at Wayanad, fast bowlers Basil Thampi (5/27) and Sandeep Warrier (4/30) ran through the Gujarat line-up, bundling them out for a paltry 81.
At the start of the day, Gujarat needed 194 runs to win the match, but the Kerala bowlers made early inroads, with four quick wickets. Rahul Shah and Dhruv Raval posted a 39-run partnership, but none of the other batsmen clicked to give the Dav Whatmore-coached team their first entry into the last four of India’s premier domestic tournament in their 61 years of participation.
40-year-old veteran Wasim Jaffer toyed with inexperienced Uttarakhand bowlers to score his ninth double ton in first-class cricket. Starting the day at 260/1, overnight centurions Jaffer and Sanjay Ramaswamy put on a 304-run stand.
Jaffer departed right after completing his double century. In fact, Vidarbha lost Ramaswamy, Jaffer and Ganesh Satish in quick succession, but then Akshay Wadkar (98) and Aditya Sarwate (57 not out) took over and with a partnership of 115 and took their team’s total to 559/6 at stumps, with an overall lead of 204.
After conceding a 177-run first innings lead to Uttar Pradesh, Saurashtra found themselves in a precarious spot, needing spirited bowling effort to make a comeback in the match.
Dharmendrasinh Jadeja (4/53) and Chetan Sakariya (3/29) did deliver on that front, restricting UP to 172/8, but the home team already have a handy lead of 349. Even though Saurashtra have the dependable Cheteshwar Pujara, it will be a huge ask for them to chase the target down in the fourth innings to book a spot in the semi-final.
This battle between Karnataka and Rajasthan is intriguingly poised. The Manish Pandey-led Karnataka are 45/3 at the end of day three, and need 139 more to win the match. But with the Rajasthan bowlers, Aniket Choudhary, Deepak Chahar and Rahul Chahar in great form – it will be an uphill task.
The day started with some useful contributions for Rajasthan by Chetan Bist (33), skipper Mahipal Lomror (42), and Robin Bist (44), that took the team to 222.
From then on, the bowlers took over and brought Rajasthan closer to a semis berth. Karnataka will now be hoping for their experienced hands Karun Nair and Manish Pandey to get the across the line on a deteriorating Chinnaswamy pitch.
