Nagwaswalla’s 4-24 drives Gujarat to innings and 64-run win over Kerala

Arzan Nagwaswalla’s four-wicket spell helped Gujarat dismiss Kerala for 191 in the second innings and secure an innings and 64-run victory in the Ranji Trophy Elite Group C match at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Thursday.

Gujarat wrapped up the match half an hour after tea on the final day as their bowling attack, led by Nagwaswalla, proved decisive. The medium-pacer dented Kerala early and finished the innings with the second new ball, while spinners extracted sharp turn from the rough to trouble the visitors. Gujarat had earlier declared their first innings at 534/9 and Kerala posted 279 in their first innings.

Kerala slipped to 63 for three after Varun Nayanar feathered a catch to Urvil Patel off Siddharth Desai, leaving the tourists under pressure. Sachin Baby and captain Vishnu Vinod rebuilt with a 65-run fourth-wicket stand that held the Gujarat bowlers at bay until lunch through a mixture of luck and aggressive intent. Vishal Jayswal then broke the partnership by inducing Vishnu to glove a sweep to Urvil behind the stumps.

A sharp piece of fielding by Jaymeet Patel led to Mohammed Azharuddeen’s run out as Kerala slipped to 141 for five, and Sachin Baby, who had shown sound judgement to reach a fifty, was trapped lbw by Amit Desai for 52 after playing back to a straight delivery. Aditya Sarvate and Jalaj Saxena resisted for around half an hour before the tea interval, extending Kerala’s resistance briefly.

Play resumed with Siddharth Desai trapping Aditya Sarvate lbw for 24 in the first over after tea, and the end followed quickly. Chintan Gaja forced an edge from Jalaj Saxena (11) and Nagwaswalla then removed M.D. Nidheesh and had N.P. Basil lbw to complete the rout and seal a resounding win for the home side.

The full second-innings scorecard for Kerala read: Abhishek P. Nair lbw b Nagwaswalla 29, Rohan Kunnummal b Nagwaswalla 7, Sachin Baby lbw b Amit 52, Varun Nayanar c Urvil b Siddharth 8, Vishnu Vinod c Urvil b Vishal 39, Mohammed Azharuddeen run out 4, Aditya Sarvate lbw b Siddharth 24, Jalaj Saxena c Urvil b Gaja 11, Vaisakh Chandran (not out) 9, M.D. Nidheesh c Amit b Nagwaswalla 0, N.P. Basil lbw b Nagwaswalla 0; Extras (lb-7, nb-1): 8; Total (in 88 overs): 191. Fall of wickets: 1-25, 2-42, 3-63, 4-128, 5-141, 6-154, 7-181, 8-181, 9-191.

Gujarat’s bowling returns were: Gaja 11-5-20-1, Nagwaswalla 12-1-24-4, Siddharth 29-8-63-2, Vishal 24-8-50-1, Amit 9-2-25-1, Manan 3-2-2-0. Gujarat’s declaration at 534/9 in the first innings and Kerala’s two innings of 279 and 191 produced the innings and 64-run margin that decided the Elite Group C fixture.