Kerala set for historic Ranji final after dramatic two-run lead over Gujarat

A resilient Kerala on Friday all but sealed their maiden Ranji Trophy final by taking a dramatic tworun firstinnings lead over Gujarat 68 years after making their debut in Indian crickets premier domestic competitionGoing into the final day at 4297 the home side who won the Ranji title in 201617 needed just 29 runs to take a first innings lead However leftarm spinner Aditya Sarwate delivered under pressure taking all three wickets to bowl Gujarat out for 455 in 1744 overs to leave them two runs short of the markMaking only their second semifinal appearance the visitors had been left frustrated by a dogged 72run eighthwicket stand betweem Jaymeet Patel 74 overnight and Siddharth Desai 24 overnight They started the day needing three wickets with just 28 runs to defendThe match is headed for a draw and as per Ranji Trophy rules Kerala would advance due to the first innings lead that becomes decisive in stalematesKerala who last made the semifinals in 201819 after making their Ranji debut back in 1957 are likely to face Vidarbha in the summit clashMumbai were reeling for 1806 at lunch on the final day in their improbable chase of 406 against Vidarbha who have a handy first innings leadSarwates breakthroughs came amid high drama including a dropped catch a tight stumping decision and a successful DRS review that overturned a caughtout call to an LBW dismissalFirst it was Kerala skipper Sachin Baby who dropped the wellset Jaymeet with Gujarat 23 runs shy of a leadBut Jaymeet could not make it count and perished for 79 177 balls 2x4 in the same over when he dragged his foot outside the crease while the ball passed his outside edge for Mohammed Azharuddeen to complete an excellent stumpingAfter multiple replays umpire finally ruled him out as his foot was found to be on the line when the bail was knocked off as Kerala camp went up in celebrationBut there was more to the contest as Kerala leftarm quick Arzan Nagwaswalla batting at No 10 counterattacked and smashed Akshay Chandran for a cover boundary to take them within 14 runs of the leadBreakthrough for Kerala came with Gujarat 11 runs behind when Sarwate broke the dogged resistance of Siddharth Desai who got out for 30 that came off 164 balls with just one boundaryDesai reviewed a caughtout decision and while Ultra Edge showed no spike balltracking confirmed it would have hit leg stump overturning the call to LBWNagwaswalla and last man Priyajitsinh Jadeja brought Gujarat within eight runs when Kerala missed a halfchance with the ball slipping from Salman Nizars graspJalaj Saxena nearly claimed his fifth wicket as Nagwaswallas inside edge brushed past leg stump leaving Gujarat just two runs shortThen came the decisive momentSarwate tossed one up Nagwaswalla swung hard and the ball ricocheted off Nizars helmet at short leg before lobbing to Baby at slipThe Amay Khurasiyacoached side erupted in celebration securing a historic Ranji final berth as a dejected Nagwaswalla walked back in disbeliefFor Kerala Sarwate who had started the day with 1101 ended with figures of 45471114Jalaj who toiled hard for 71 overs returned with 4149 including 14 maidensBrief Scores at lunchKerala 457 and 26 for no loss Gujarat 455 1744 overs Priyank Panchal 148 Jaymeet Patel 79 Aarya Desai 73 Jalaj Saxena 4149 Aditya Sarwate 4111 Kerala lead by 28 runs