Gujarat proved too good for Kerala.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
A relentless and efficient Gujarat dismantled Kerala to wrap up a comprehensive innings and 64 run victory in the Ranji Trophy Elite Group C match at the Narendra Modi stadium here on Thursday.
Medium-pacer Arzan Nagwaswalla (four for 24) once again turned out to be Kerala’s nemesis, denting the visitor early on and fittingly finishing the innings with the second new ball. Kerala folded up for 191 in the second innings, half an hour after tea on the final day.
Except for Sachin Baby (52) and captain Vishnu Vinod (39), the rest of the Kerala batting crumbled under unrelenting pressure exerted by a ruthless Gujarat attack. Batting proved to be a daunting challenge with the spinners extracting sharp turn from the rough. Varun Nayanar fell cheaply feathering a catch to Urvil Patel off Siddharth Desai to leave Kerala struggling at 63 for three.
However, Vishnu and Sachin kept the Gujarat attack at bay till lunch with a mixture of luck and bold aggression. Vishal Jayswal broke the 65-run stand for the fourth wicket when he got Vishnu to glove a catch to Urvil behind the stumps while sweeping.
Soon after a brilliant piece of fielding by Jaymeet Patel ended Mohammed Azharuddeen’s brief stay as Kerala slipped to 141 for five. Sachin, who showed sound judgement and temperament to score a fine fifty, fell after repeating his first innings’ mistake. The southpaw played back to straight delivery from Amit Desai and was trapped in front for 52.
Aditya Sarvate and Jalaj Saxena survived a testing half-an-hour before the tea break. But the resistance didn’t long after resumption as Siddharth pinned Saravte (24) in front in the first over after tea. Inevitability soon swept in as armed with the new ball, Chintan Gaja forced an edge from Jalaj (11) before Nagaswalla bounced out M.D. Nidheesh and trapped N.P. Basil in front to seal a resounding win for the home side.
The scores: Gujarat — 1st innings: 534/9 decl.
Kerala — 1st innings: 279.
Kerala — 2nd innings: Abhishek P. Nair lbw b Nagwaswalla 29, Rohan Kunnummal b Nagwaswalla 7, Sachin Baby lbw b Amit 52, Varun Nayanar c Urvil b Siddharth 8, Vishnu Vinod c Urvil b Vishal 39, Mohammed Azharuddeen run out 4, Aditya Sarvate lbw b Siddharth 24, Jalaj Saxena c Urvil b Gaja 11, Vaisakh Chandran (not out) 9, M.D. Nidheesh c Amit b Nagwaswalla 0, N.P. Basil lbw b Nagwaswalla 0; Extras (lb-7, nb-1): 8; Total (in 88 overs): 191.
Fall of wickets: 1-25, 2-42, 3-63, 4-128, 5-141, 6-154, 7-181, 8-181, 9-191.
Gujarat bowling: Gaja 11-5-20-1, Nagwaswalla 12-1-24-4, Siddharth 29-8-63-2, Vishal 24-8-50-1, Amit 9-2-25-1, Manan 3-2-2-0.
Published – November 05, 2026 07:05 pm IST
