The Group A match between Gujarat and Kerala at the Lalbhai Contractor Stadium looks to be heading for an exciting, early finish.
In a low-scoring match on a wicket that encourages both seamers and spinners — overcast conditions not making things easy for the batsmen — the odds are usually against the side batting last.
Gujarat will be fairly confident of stopping Kerala short of the target of 268, but the latter has enough batting resources to dream of a victory. Much could depend on how the Kerala batsmen negotiate the first session and how reluctant the sun will be to make an appearance.
If Kerala can survive the opening two-and-a-half hours without losing too many wickets, the afternoon could produce some fascinating cricket.
The visiting openers did well enough in the 40-odd minutes they had to bat out before stumps were drawn on the second day. Vishnu Vinod and Jalaj Saxena did an admirable job, making 26 runs in fading light.
Gaja’s onslaught
Kerala’s target would have been a lot smaller, but for an astonishing onslaught by Gujarat’s No. 10Chintan Gaja. He made an unbeaten 50 off just 47 balls (3x4, 3x6) and added as many runs for the last wicket with Siddharth Desai, who scored a remarkable nought off 13 balls.
A five-wicket haul by Basil Thampi — his second in First Class cricket — had reduced Gujarat to 160 for nine before Gaja decided to have some fun.
The seamer, however, had taken a while to find the right length. He was bowling far too short before finally opting to bowl fuller.
His wickets included those of Manprit Juneja, whose 53 is the highest of the match thus far, Priyank Panchal and captain Parthiv Patel.
The home batsmen had got the best conditions of the game yet: a delayed start (because of the solar eclipse) meant they didn’t have to play in the overcast conditions of the morning.
They had resumed their second innings on the overnight one for no wicket. On the first day, as many as 20 wickets had fallen, but that wasn’t entirely due to the pitch — it had more to do with the conditions and excellent bowling from both sides.
The scores:
Gujarat — 1st innings: Kathan Patel b Monish 36, Priyank Panchal lbw b Asif 10, Bhargav Merai c Azharuddeen b Asif 0, Parthiv Patel b Jalaj 11, Manprit Juneja c Vishnu b Jalaj 4, Dhruv Raval c Vishnu b Jalaj 1, Axar Patel b Warrier 10, Piyush Chawla st Azharuddeen b Jalaj 32, Roosh Kalaria run out (Baby) 2, Chintan Gaja (not out) 2, Siddharth Desai lbw b Jalaj 0; Extras (b-7, lb-9, w-3) 19; Total (in 38 overs): 127.
Fall of wickets: 1-27, 2-31, 3-59, 4-75, 5-79, 6-81, 7-109, 8-120, 9-127.
Kerala bowling: Warrier 9-1-38-1, Thampi 6-0-18-0, Asif 9-2-23-2, Jalaj 13-3-26-5, Monish 1-0-6-1.
Kerala — 1st innings: P. Rahul lbw b Kalaria 17, Jalaj Saxena lbw b Gaja 0, Sanju Samson c Kathan b Gaja 5, Sachin Baby c Merai b Kalaria 0, Robin Uthappa c Panchal b Kalaria 26, Vishnu Vinod lbw b Axar 8, Mohammed Azharuddeen c Chawla b Kalaria 0, S. Monish c Panchal b Axar 6, Basil Thampi lbw b Axar 0, K.M. Asif lbw b Desai 0, Sandeep Warrier (not out) 0; Extras (b-4, lb-3, w-1) 8; Total (in 35.5 overs): 70.
Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-6, 3-8, 4-50, 5-53, 6-55, 7-63, 8-63, 9-70.
Gujarat bowling: Kalaria 13-4-20-4, Gaja 9-3-17-2, Axar 6-2-11-3, Desai 7.5-2-15-1.
Gujarat — 2nd innings: Kathan Patel c Vishnu b Jalaj 34, Priyank Panchal c Monish b Thampi 11, Bhargav Merai lbw b Jalaj 21, Dhruv Raval c Monish b Warrier 0, Manprit Juneja lbw b Thampi 53, Parthiv Patel b Thampi 14, Axar Patel c & b Jalaj 7, Piyush Chawla c Monish b Thampi 9, Roosh Kalaria c Vishnu bThampi 0, Chintan Gaja (not out) 50, Siddharth Desai c Azharudeen b Warrier 0; Extras (b-1, lb-4, nb-4, w-2) 11; Total ( in 60.4 overs): 210.
Fall of wickets: 1-20, 2-54, 3-55, 4-111, 5-140, 6-143, 7-158, 8-158, 9-160.
Kerala bowling: Warrier 15.4-2-44-2, Asif 6-0-35-0, Thampi 14-0-56-5, Monish 6-0-16-0, Jalaj 19-2-54-3.
Kerala — 2nd innings: Vishnu Vinod (batting) 22, Jalaj Saxena (batting) 3; Extras (lb-1) 1; Total (for no wkt. in seven overs): 26.
Gujarat bowling: Kalaria 3-0-17-0, Gaja 1-0-2-0, Axar 2-2-0-0, Desai 1-0-6-0.
Toss: Kerala.
