Vidarbha batter Karun Nair continued his Midas touch in the domestic season as he slammed a century in the all-important final against Kerala. Nair, who is on a run-scoring spree in domestic circuit, hit his ninth ton in the domestic season as he helped Vidarbha end the fourth day in command of the final at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Nagpur.
Nair went unbeaten on 132 alongside captain and wicketkeeper Akshay Wadkar with Vidarbha on 249/4 and leading Kerala by 286 runs at the end of the fourth day. Vidarbha will now look to score some quick runs before calling Kerala to chase on the final day of the finale.
Vidarbha had earlier scored 379 in the first innings, where Nair missed out on a hundred by 14 runs. Danish Malewar, the 21-year-old all-rounder, slammed 153 in the first innings in reply to Kerala's 342.
The Sachin Baby-led side had put up 342 on the back of a 98 from the captain, with Aditya Sarwate making 79 as well.
Nair has been in fantastic form in the domestic arena. This was his fourth century in the Ranji Trophy, after having hit three in the previous matches. Nair has hit 860 runs in nine matches in the tournament and is still gunning for some more.
Nair had earlier slammed five centuries and one fifty in nine matches in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, which led to voices being raised for his India return. The Vidarbha batter had hit 779 runs in nine games at a whopping average of 389.5 in the 50-over tournament.
Vidarbha's Playing XI:
Dhruv Shorey, Danish Malewar, Karun Nair, Yash Rathod, Akshay Wadkar (c & wk), Akshay Karnewar, Harsh Dubey, Parth Rekhade, Nachiket Bhute, Darshan Nalkande, Yash Thakur
Kerala's Playing XI:
Akshay Chandran, Rohan Kunnummal, Sachin Baby (c), Jalaj Saxena, Mohammed Azharuddeen (wk), Salman Nizar, Ahammed Imran, Eden Apple Tom, Aditya Sarwate, MD Nidheesh, Nedumankuzhy Basil
