In just two days, Kerala’s cricketing high of appearing in their first-ever Ranji Trophy semifinal dissipated in the face of quality fast bowling from a unit spearheaded by one of the fastest bowlers in the country. The picturesque stadium here is a sight to behold but there was nothing remotely gratifying about the manner in which the Kerala batsmen capitulated for inning totals of 106 and 91.
The hosts slumped to an innings and 11 run loss to Vidarbha on Friday, a result which will sour the team’s breakthough season, which had raised hopes of them going all the way. But facing a charged-up Umesh Yadav, who has played 41 Tests and bowls at speeds of 145 kmph, was always going to be a test for the batsmen. Yet even the most cynical of Kerala cricket fans would not have imagined the meek surrender on a wicket, which aided the fast bowlers but is unlikely to earn any negative remarks from the match referee.
If Day One was all about Umesh’s seven-wicket haul, Friday saw 19-year-old medium-pacer Yash Thakur, playing only his third First-class game, join the party. Thakur scalped four to complement another fifer from Umesh. Defending champions Vidarbha booked their second consecutive final berth with three full days to spare.
Kerala had restructured their batting order for the second innings after conceding a lead of 102. They could have been in a deeper deficit as, at one point, Vidarbha were crusing at 170 for 2 before Kerala fast bowlers Basil Thampi and Sandeep Warrier triggered a collapse with the visitors losing eight wickets for 38 runs. The tactic of pushing up KB Arun Karthik and Jalaj Saxena, to counter the new-ball, seemed a pro-active step on the part of Kerala. But it was like putting a band-aid over a hemorrhaging wound. After a brief period of resistance, Kerala lost nine wickets for 32 runs.
Just to further illustrate their incompetence, they managed to bat a total of just 53.3 overs in both their innings combined. The final nail in the coffin came barely 30 minutes after the lunch interval on Day 2, when Yadav had speedster MD Nidheesh caught in the first slip by Sanjay Ramaswamy. The fielding was also top-notch with Vidarbha’s 18-year-old Atharwa Taide producing two outstanding efforts. First-up, he cut short Mohammad Azharuddeen’s stay with a brilliant diving catch at square-leg position. He then followed it up with a brilliant direct hit to dismiss the Kerala captain Sachin Baby.
Friday morning had brought a semblance of hope for Kerala when pacer Warrier breached through Vidarbha’s lower order to pick up a five-for and restrict the visitors to a middling score of 208. Warrier’s exploits were followed by a brief rearguard from their opener Karthik. He tore into medium-pacer Rajneesh Gurbani in the first over, striking him over fine-leg for a boundary, before creaming him over the sight-screen for a six. His opening partnership with Saxena yielded 28 runs, but Karthik continued with abandon following Saxena’s exit by bringing up 50 runs in the 10th over. Just when he had looked like he had got the measure of Vidarbha’s bowling, Thakur trapped him in front for 36. Sensing an opening, Vidarbha went all-out for the attack. From 59/1, Sachin Baby’s team collapsed to 91 all out.
Even as Baby tried his best to delve into his team’s breakthrough season, he couldn’t but put the blame squarely on his batsmen. “This was indeed a great season for us in which we managed to reach the semis for the first time. Having said that, I think it’s the collective batting failure that led to this loss,” he explained.
He went on to dismiss the argument that his batsmen had developed a mindblock while facing a bowler of Yadav’s calibre. He reckoned that his team lost the plot during the two crucial morning sessions. “It was a crucial toss to lose. This meant we had to bat in that morning session on the first day. Obviously, we were not upto the mark then. Even today, it was the batting in the morning session that ultimately made the difference,” he noted.
He admitted that batting was a herculean task during those periods where his batsmen were perpetually trying to counter the movement, through the air, and off the pitch. Baby asserted that batting was not that treacherous on this track, as the scorecard suggested. The key was to play out the morning session without losing too many wickets, before cashing in on the subsequent periods of play when the pitch eased out.
Vidarbha, through their captain Fazal’s efficient 75 showed that batting was imminently possible. “We lost too many wickets in the morning session. In hindsight, if we had conserved our wickets today, say if we were 60/2 at lunch, then we could have set up a lead of 150 runs, which would have brought our pacers into the game,” Baby rued.
Despite some scintillating performances, Vidarbha showed Kerala that they still have some gaping holes to plug in the run-up to the next domestic season.
Brief Scores: Vidarbha 208 vs Kerala 106 & 91 (K.B. Arun Karthick 36, Sijomon Joseph 17, Umesh Yadav 5/31, Y.R. Thakur 4/28.) Result: Vidarbha won by an innings and 11 runs and qualified for the final.
