Stumps Vidarbha 254 for 4 (Malewar 138*, Nair 86, Nidheesh 2-33) vs Kerala

On Wednesday, Malewar and Nair were at the forefront of an incredible Vidarbha fightback on the opening day of the Ranji Trophy final against first-timers Kerala in Nagpur. The pair added 215 for the fourth wicket as Kerala's bowling reserves were severely tested. Vidarbha recovered from 24 for 3 in the first hour and looked primed to take the opening-day honours when Nair's run out late in the day for 86, after being sent back by Malewar as they tried to steal a bye, gave Kerala a late lift. Vidarbha went into stumps on 254 for 4 on a VCA Stadium surface that flattened out as the day progressed, with Kerala at the receiving end of a slow-burn kind of treatment they meted out to Gujarat in the semi-final.

Malewar and Nair superbly negated Kerala's major threat - spin - as Jalaj Saxena and hometown hero Aditya Sarwate, who made the switch from Vidarbha ahead of the 2024-25 season, proved ineffective. The spin twins had combined figures of 0 for 92 off 26 overs, although Saxena was the only bowler who induced a possible opportunity when he managed to induce the outside edge from Malewar after he was beaten in flight and drift while on 110. The resultant edge as he pushed at the delivery that didn't turn as much flew past a vacant slip that had only a few overs earlier been taken out.

That was the only genuine wicket-taking delivery all afternoon; the Nair dismissal was entirely down to Rohan Kunnummal's presence of mind and pinpoint accuracy as he ran to his right from the slips to stop the ball that deflected off the keeper's pad. Then he fired a flat throw to the stumps to catch Nair well short after he was sent back by Malewar. Yash Thakur was sent in as a nightwatcher and remained unbeaten on 5 alongside Malewar, who was 138 not out - his highest score yet.

The partnership between Malewar and Nair not only denied Kerala for large parts of the day but also covered up for a slightly unconventional move from Vidarbha that may have been scrutinised had they collapsed. Vidarbha promoted Parth Rekhade, a lower-order batter to open in place of Atharva Taide, who had been left out. And after he was out two balls into the game - courtesy an lbw decision Kerala overturned through DRS - they sent in Darshan Nalkande, a seam-bowling allrounder who bats in the lower-order, at No. 3. That move backfired too as Nalkande mistimed a pull to deep square as Nidheesh picked up a second wicket.

Kerala's boisterous energy and keenness to take the game on had them burn an lbw review off Dhruv Shorey, the only genuine top-order batter in the top three. Shorey looked assured for the brief while he was at the crease but nibbled at a short and wide delivery from 19-year-old seamer Eden Apple Tom to the wicketkeeper to leave Vidarbha in choppy waters.

Malewar and Nair joined hands at a time of crisis and slowly rebuilt the innings, not through denial but by picking runs whenever the bowlers erred. Malewar left the ball well outside off, forcing the bowlers to attack the stumps. And as they went full, Malewar brought out some incredible wrist work - at times picking length balls from middle-and-off through midwicket and mid-on. He was equally impressive off the back foot, while tucking deliveries off his hip.

Malewar got to his half-century in style as he stepped out to launch Sarwate over the long-on boundary. The first real rash stroke he played was to get into the 80s when he chased a short and wide Nidheesh delivery to slash it towards third man. Nair occasionally kept pepping Malewar every time he erred, and was the more industrious out of the two - sweeping spinners off their lengths, on a couple of occasions reverse sweeping Sarwate to prevent him from settling into a rhythm.

Nair's driving through the covers was imperious - especially off rookie Apple Tom who was playing in only his third game, three years after debuting as a 16-year-old. Nair's defence was compact, as he negated Kerala's tactic of attacking the stumps and looking to get some reverse swing with a short midwicket in place.

Like he raised his fifty, Malewar showed no sign of nerves in the 90s either, stepping out to launch Sarwate over long-on to get to 99, and then whipping him through midwicket for a boundary to raise his century. Nair, meanwhile, brought up his half-century off 125 balls and then feasted on some tired bowling to charge towards what would've been his fourth hundred of the season, and 23rd overall, in the final session. Before his run out had him uncharacteristically flinging his bat in disappointment as he walked back to a dressing room that stood up to applaud a rescue.