Sachin Baby did all the hard work in the toughest of conditions. But he undid the effort with a shot that might haunt him for a long time to come.
With Kerala 55 runs short of Vidarbha’s first-innings score of 379, Sachin went down on his knee to slog-sweep Parth Rekhade. The Kerala captain, bating on 98, was inching closer to a personal milestone as well.
He watched in horror as the ball flew towards deep mid-wicket where Karun Nair took the catch. That was not just the end of Sachin (235b, 345min, 10×4), but it was also the end of the last recognised Kerala partnership at the VCA Stadium.
The side was all out, in what was eventually the third day’s final over, for 342.
With two days remaining, either side boasting fine spinners and the wicket promising more turn, this match need not hinge on the first-innings lead.
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Day three had begun with Sachin gently caressing Nachiket Bhute through the covers as Kerala resumed at 131 for three, its overnight score. But he approached the innings cautiously, determined to stay firm on a wicket clearly encouraging the spinners.
But his fourth-wicket stand of 93 with Aditya Sarvate (79, 185b, 275min, 10×4) was broken by Harsh Dubey, the young left-arm spinner who would go on to set a new record for the highest number of wickets in a Ranji season (69). He produced an outside edge off Sarvate’s bat that was eventually caught at silly mid-off.
Neither Salman Nizar nor Mohammed Azharuddeen, the two middle-order batters who held the Kerala batting together this season, could support their skipper long enough. Jalaj Saxena, though, offered hope.
The seventh-wicket stand was worth 46 when Sachin, who had been threatening to play possibly the innings of his life, committed the first real mistake. And for once, Kerala’s tail did not wag, either.