Danish Malewar and Karun Nair's partnership helped the Vidarbha to end day 1 of the Ranji Trophy final against Kerala on 254/4 at Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Nagpur. Danish Malewar 138 was not out and Karun Nair 88 helped the last edition's finalists to make a comeback in the finale.
After being asked to bat, Vidarbha lost three wickets in quick succession but Nair and Malewar led a strong fightback for the hosts in the title decider. Both batters stitched a 215-run partnership for the fifth wicket facing 414 deliveries across the three sessions, mixing caution with aggression to give Vidarbha a strong footing in the summit clash.
Their partnership ended abruptly against the flow of the game when both Nair and Malewar went for a non-existent run which ended up in the dismissal of the former, 14 runs short of a deserving century.
Malewar came to bat and number four, he stitched a partnership alongside number five Karun Nair that led Vidarbha to lunch. Building that partnership to more than 100 runs after the break, Malewar smashed the second century of the ongoing season, his maiden campaign for last year’s runner-ups.
The young batter made his domestic debut in the middle of the Ranji season against Andhra in Nagpur and immediately impressed with a second-inning 61 batting at number three. After that, he scored 56, 42 and 59 in his next three innings before recording his maiden First Class hundred (115) against Gujarat at home in Nagpur.
The young batter made his domestic debut in the middle of the Ranji season against Andhra in Nagpur and immediately impressed with a second-inning 61 batting at number three. After that, he scored 56, 42 and 59 in his next three innings before recording his maiden First Class hundred (115) against Gujarat at home in Nagpur. The batter has yet to make his in the shorter formats.
Brief scores: Vidarbha 254/4 in 86 overs (Danish Malewar 138*, Karun Nair 86; MD Nidheesh 2/33) vs Kerala.