Ranji Trophy: Kerala batters overcome tough J&K test to reach first semifinal in six years

Ranji Trophy: Kerala batters overcome tough J&K test to reach first semifinal in six years

It was a test of patience for the Kerala batters. Still, they managed to pass with flying colours, batting out the final day of its Ranji Trophy quarterfinal against Jammu and Kashmir to force a draw. The one-run lead in the first innings eventually made all the difference as Sachin Baby and Co. made the final-four.

Pursuing a target of 399, Kerala never seemed to be in a hurry. Rather, the plan to play by the merit of the ball seemed quite clear from the start; it was something it had done in the group league fixture against Madhya Pradesh as well.

Resuming at 100 for 2, Sachin and Akshay Chandran judged the early morning conditions well to deny J&K bowlers an opportunity to make inroads.

With the entire Kerala camp backing the batters with continuous synchronised clapping, Sachin and Akshay patiently added 28 runs in the first 24 overs. The MCA Stadium hardly had anything to offer the bowlers.

However, shortly before lunch, Akshay fell two runs short of his fifty, after being caught by Shubham Khajuria at short leg off Sahil Lotra. Sachin also ended up scoring 48, nicking to wicketkeeper Kanhaiya Wadhawan off off-spinner Lotra.

In the early moments of the second session, albeit only momentarily, Lotra and left-arm spinner Abid Mushtaq spiced things up with quick wickets of Jalaj Saxena and Aditya Sarvate.

With three quick wickets, a rejuvenated J&K side waited a tad before taking the new ball. However, with Mohammed Azharuddeen (67 n.o., 118b, 9×4, 2×6) and Salman Nizar (44 n.o., 162, 8×4) dominating with an unbroken partnership of 115, J&K’s hopes of reaching its maiden semifinal went up in smoke.

J&K used seven bowlers to find breakthroughs, but a determined effort by Azharuddeen and Nizar, who was coming on the back of a century in the first innings, saw Kerala reach the semifinal after six years.