Danish Malewar, Karun Nair script turnaround on opening day

Danish Malewar, Karun Nair script turnaround on opening day

A fighting double century partnership between Danish Malewar and Karun Nair helped Vidarbha turn things around on the opening day of the Ranji Trophy final against Kerala in Nagpur.

• Vidarbha received a massive jolt in the first session when their top order was sent packing with just 24 runs on the board.
• However, Malewar and Nair were involved in a 215-run stand that ensured the hosts finished strong at 254 for 4 by Stumps.

Session 1:

• Kerala took just two balls to strike after asking Vidarbha to bat.
• The opening wicket came on the back of a brave review in the first over as MD Nidheesh trapped Parth Rekhade leg-before-wicket for a duck.
• After three maidens to begin with, Dhruv Shorey opened Vidarbha's account with a boundary.
• However, Darshan Nalkande miscued a short ball against Nidheesh at the other end to give Kerala their second breakthrough.
• Despite looking solid in his brief stay, Shorey edged one off Eden Apple to fall for 16 that left his side in desperate need of a partnership.

Session 2:

• That is when Nair joined forces with Malewar to revive the batting side.
• Initially watchful, the two batters then went on the offensive to collect boundaries at regular intervals.
• Nair even took down spin by smashing Aditya Sarwate over cover for a six.
• Post lunch, Malewar cleared the ropes against the same bowler to bring up his half-century as the tide slowly started shifting.

Session 3:

• Jalaj Saxena, who didn't have a prominent role almost for the first half of the day, bowled a lot more from the second session onwards but to no avail.
• Malewar cleared the ropes to move to 99 and then brought up his century with a boundary just before the Tea break.
• And much like the second session, the final session also appeared to be heading towards a similar fate with no wickets for the bowling side.

Closing stages:

• Eventually, Kerala struck immediately after taking the second new ball albeit not the way they would have intended as Nair unfortunately got run out 14 short of a ton.
• Yash Thakur walked out as the nightwatchman to blunt out the final few overs before stumps, and Malewar for his part remained steady at the other end to make it Vidarbha's day.

Brief scores:

**Vidarbha** 254/4 (Danish Malewar 138*, Karun Nair 86; MD Nidheesh 2/33) vs **Kerala**