Ranji Trophy final: Vidarbha take 37-run lead against Kerala
What's the story
The third day of the ongoing Ranji Trophy final saw a dramatic turn of events.
Despite Sachin Baby's valiant 98 off 234 balls, Kerala fell short by 37 runs in their first innings.
Kerala started Day 3 on 131/3 and managed 342/10 after Vidarbha's 379.
Kerala were 324/6 at one stage before folding for 342.
Heroics from Harsh Dubey and Parth Rekhade aided Vidarbha in managing the collapse.
Here's more.
Stellar performance
Dubey and Rekhade shine for Vidarbha
As mentioned, Vidarbha's left-arm spinners, Rekhade and Dubey, turned the tide of the match.
The duo picked six wickets between them, snatching the lead from Kerala's cusps.
Notably, Dubey registered figures of 3/88 in 44 overs, surpassing Ashutosh Aman's record with a new Ranji season-high of 69 wickets.
Rekhade ended up with figures worth 3/65 in his 30 overs.
Game-changer
Rekhade's strategy pays off against Baby
The game's momentum changed drastically when Rekhade sent Baby back, who was on the cusp of scoring a century in his 100th First-Class match.
Attempting to clear the infield, Baby was caught by Karun Nair at deep midwicket boundary.
Baby's dismissal saw him fall just short of his maiden ton this season, proved to be a turning point, dashing Kerala's hopes of securing a lead.
Final blow
Saxena's dismissal signals end for Kerala
Jalaj Saxena, Kerala's ultimate hope, was sent back after facing 76 deliveries and scoring 28 runs.
His fell to Rekhade when Kerala still needed 43 runs.
Meanwhile, the wicket of Eden Apple Tom, a young player playing his third Ranji match, ended Kerala's innings.
This dramatic collapse overshadowed the earlier efforts of their batters to ensure they got a lead.
Earlier efforts
Sarwate's contribution and Baby's resilience
Earlier in the day, local star and two-time Ranji champion (with Vidarbha) Aditya Sarwate scored 79 before falling to Dubey.
Despite having an overturned lbw decision through DRS on 54, Baby showed resilience with his disciplined batting outside off.
Mohammed Azharuddeen also played a crucial role in bringing the deficit down to double digits before falling lbw to Darshan Nalkande.
Meanwhile, Nalkande also bagged three scalps in his 13 overs while giving away 52 runs.
Numbers
Key numbers of Dubey and Rekhade
Dubey has now raced to 97 FC scalps at 19-plus (32 innings).
He also boasts four four-wicket hauls, eight five-wicket hauls, and two 10-wicket hauls. His best bowling inning is 6/36 (BBM: 11/107).
As mentioned, he now owns 69 scalps this season (19 innings).
According to ESPNcricinfo, Rekhade now owns 13 FC scalps at 21-plus. He owns one four-wicket haul with the best inning figures of 4/55 (BBI: 6/125).
Stats
Baby shines for Kerala with 29th FC fifty
With his valiant 98 off 235 balls, the 36-year-old batter has raced to 5,747 runs at an average of 39-plus.
He also boasts 14 hundreds and 29 fifties across 100 FC matches and 158 innings.
Meanwhile, this season, Baby has amassed 516 runs across 15 innings at 36.86. He slammed his 5th fifty this season.