Ranji Trophy: Unbeaten Karun Nair, Danish Malewar lead Vidarbha reply against Gujarat | Cricket News
NAGPUR: At 50 for 2, Vidarbha were in trouble. Gujarat’s first innings total of 343 was still far away. The openers, after a solid start, had slipped. Two in the Vidarbha lineup, Karun Nair and Danish Malewar, though, knew they had miles to go, and a promise to keep.
The unbeaten 152-run partnership, the highest of the match so far, by Nair and Malewar firm brought Vidarbha back in the hunt. The hosts finished Day 2 of the Elite Group ‘B’ Ranji Trophy match on 202 for 2 in 65 overs at Jamtha Stadium in Nagpur.
With Vidarbha still 141 adrift of Gujarat, the two and the rest of the batting line-up need to put in a solid performance for the team to get into the driver’s seat.
Nair (81*; 137b;11×4;2×6) hardly put a foot wrong on Thursday. Malewar (76*;11×4;1×6), the promising 21-year-old batter, complimented the senior professional shot for shot. Malewar erred just once in his 152-ball stay at the crease and was saved by the third umpire.
Prior to the Nair-Malewar show, Gujarat skipper Chintan Gaja finished unbeaten on 86 (178b;12×4;1×6). Gujarat’s last four wickets added 62 to the board, with Gaja scoring 43 of those runs. Gaja reached his fifty with an on-the-up punch to the cover boundary in the third over of the day.
The next over, 90th of the Gujarat inning, saw medium pacer Thakare playing with the patience of Vishal Jayswal (112;139b;12×4;4×6) by bowling five consecutive dots. On the sixth, Jayswal lost his cool and tried to heave the ball out of the park. His mistimed shot was gleefully pouched by Akshay Wakhare at short mid-off as Gujarat lost the first wicket of the day with scoreboard reading 293 for 7.
Malewar caught behind on 40, still batting on 76
With Vidarbha on 134 for 2 in the 43rd over, Malewar, batting on 40, tried to cut a delivery from Vishal Jayswal only to edge it to the wicketkeeper. As Malewar trudged back to the dressing room, he was stopped by the umpires thanks to a No ball alert. Replays showed Jayswal had overstepped. From thereon, Malewar finished the day unbeaten, posting his highest First Class score.
Bhute does a Gibbs, let’s ball slip out in celebration
Nachiket Bhute did a Herschelle Gibbs on Thursday, letting the ball slip out of his hand while trying to celebrate a dismissal. Gujarat skipper Chintan Gaja, batting on 71, offered a simple caught and bowled chance to Bhute. The right-arm medium pacer caught the ball in one hand in his follow-through. But too eager to celebrate, Bhute saw the ball slip out of his hand before he could legally complete the catch. The slip-up, though, didn’t prove costly for Vidarbha as the Gujarat innings folded after the addition of just 16 runs post the incident.
BRIEF SCORES
Gujarat (Overnight 281 for 6 in 86 overs): 343 all out in 105.3 overs (Vishal Jayswal 112, Priyank Panchal 88, Chintan Gaja 86; Aditya Thakare 3-63, Nachiket Bhute 3-66, Praful Hinge 3-74, Harsh Dubey 1-69) lead Vidarbha: 202 for 2 in 65 overs (Karun Nair 81 batting, Danish Malewar 76 batting, Dhruv Shorey 27; Tejas Patel 1-33, Arzan Nagaswalla 1-38) by 141 runs.
