Kerala went from highs of making the Ranji Trophy semi-finals for the first time in 61 years to having their dream run shattered in just two days. On Friday, the second day at the scenic Krishnagiri Stadium inWayanad, Kerala batting were dismantled for the second time in as many days. With the innings and 11 runs win, Vidarbha moved into the final to try and defend their crown. There they will face the winner of Karnataka vs Saurashtra semi-final at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
On a green pitch, the seamers made merry with 30 wickets falling in just over four sessions of play. Umesh Yadav was once again crucial to Vidarbha’s bowling attack as he posted figures of 5/31 with medium pacer Yash Thakur registering 4/28. Umesh, thus, scalped 12 wickets in the semifinal.
After 15 wickets fell on Day 1, another 15 fell on the second to see a tame end for a Kerala side which had caused quite a few upsets on their way here with wins against Andhra Pradesh, Bengal, Delhi and Himachal Pradesh before getting to the semifinals with a huge win over Gujarat.
With hints of wicket getting less dangerous on the opening day, Kerala disappointingly for themselves couldn’t reach that stage on the second day to be bowled out soon after the lunch interval.
Resuming from overnight total of 171/5, Vidarbha lost wickets cheaply with only Mohit Kale and Umesh providing some resistance to take a 102 run lead. Dismissed on the opening day, captain Faiz Fazal’s 75 run knock was pivotal to getting the defending champions there. Sandeep Warrier picked up a fifer with three wickets for Basil Thampi and two for MD Nidheesh.
In reply, Kerala went from 59/1 to 73/8 with 14 runs being scored across seven wickets with six overs bowled in this period. At the top of the order, Arun Karthik top-scored with 36 runs with Vishnu Vinod (15) and Sijomon Joseph (17) the others who reached double digits.
