When dusk crawled into the Jamtha Stadium, and stumps called to end a dramatic and exhausting day, the outfield resembled the waiting hall of a medical college. Players slumped to different parts of the outfield, stretching their tired sinews and resting their drained minds, processing the events of a slow-burning, but see-sawing, day.It was a day neither team would feel inordinately happy or absurdly dejected about, which explains the state of the match – on a knife’s edge, awaiting the next big pendulum swing.Vidarbha are still the ascendant side. A first-session collapse saw them restricted to 379, when a 450-plus target loomed at stumps on Day One. But the total still daunts Kerala, who have lost three wickets for 131 runs. The red-soil strip could soon flash its venomous fangs, and the visitors have to bat last.But it could have been worse and better for both. The evening of rumination, thus, would be bittersweet.As the sun began to retreat, the sky splashed in a palette of colours, Kerala would have noticed just the rosier tints of the skies. Splendid was their comeback, and if they had escaped without more damage, the day would have been theirs. But Ahammed Imran perished, cheering up Vidarbha. It was in tune with the day, both teams making comebacks and neither getting too far in front.Until he got out, Imran, just 18, and Aditya Sarwate, twice his age, had formed an unlikely union. Both were thrust into a firestorm. Sarwate, though a two-time centurion, had barely batted up the order in his career. Imran was batting for just the third time in his First-Class career. Their openers, Akshay Chandran and Rohan Kunnumal, were already back in the dugout, after inside-edging and under-edging Darshan Nalkande onto the stumps, providing the perfect start for the hosts.But from a fragile 14 for 2, the duo fire-fought, demonstrating that beneath their scrape to the final is a coat of steel, that they loathe to surrender without a stoic fight. They did fight, yoking defiant defence and calculated counter-attacking. Sarwate threw the counter-blows, driving nonchalantly through covers, often on the rise and with a wristy flourish. When the bowlers pulled back their length, it didn’t stem the flow of runs as Sarwate cut and slashed with aplomb.Story continues below this ad Vidarbha’s Karun Nair, left, and Danish Malewar run between the wickets on the first day of the Ranji Trophy final cricket match between Vidarbha and Kerala, at Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA) Stadium, in Nagpur, Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025. (PTI Photo)After surviving a dropped catch, Imran trenched in. His feet moved decisively, the decision-making found clarity, as he showed the possibility of a long-term solution for Kerala’s top-order dysfunction. He did more than clinging around, tapped and nudged singles, danced down the track to dishevel the length of left-arm spinner Harsh Dubey, swept the brisker left-arm spinner Parth Rekhade, and struck the intermittent boundary. Later, he swivel-pulled Yash Thakur. Short in build and quick of feet, Imran got into comfortable positions to pull. However, he couldn’t contain the burst of adrenaline as he fell to the shot off a heavy ball from Thakur.The dismissal was indicative of the swing in fortunes on an engrossing day. There was no whiff of drama in the first hour of the morning as Danish Malewar and nightwatchman Yash Thakur lashed boundaries and steered Vidarbha close to the 300-run mark without any damage. At times, the Kerala bowlers tried too hard to coax a wicket. The visitors may have feared Vidarbha batting them out of the game. But they fought back with the rugged tenacity they had exhibited throughout the season.Three balls into the 10th over of the day, NP Basil’s in-ducker stayed a tad low and snuck through the crouched defensive bailout of Malewar. A more front-foot savvy batsmen would have defanged the danger, but Malewar’s back-foot dominant methods has produced a rich yield in his debut season.The stroke of luck lifted Kerala’s hopes. The fielders regained their voice and spunk, and bowlers steamed in with energy and intensity. Vidarbha’s batsmen suddenly found themselves in the middle of a tidal momentum swing. In the space of seven runs, they surrendered two more wickets. Kerala’s unrelenting workhorse, Basil LBW-ed Thakur, the nightwatchman, before Eden Apple Tom ejected Yash Rathod with an away-swinging pearl. When Eden removed Akshay Wadkar, in what could have been the final over of the session, Vidarbha were tottering at 335 for 9.Story continues below this adBut another twist winked by in the extended 30 minutes of the session, when Vidarbha’s No.11 (but judge him not by the number) Nachiket Bhute freewheeled to an entertaining 32 off 38 balls, laced with two clean swipes over the fence off Jalaj Saxena. Panic chimed in, nerves flayed — Kerala conceded overthrows, set bizarre defensive fields and let Vidarbha’s total soar beyond 350, past 360, finally stopping at 379, 11 minutes into the second session. It would not be the last twist the day saw though. And of the game either.Brief scores: Vidarbha 379 (Danish Malewar 153, Karun Nair 86; MD Nidheesh 3/61, Eden Apple Tom 3/102) vs Kerala 131/3 (Aditya Sarvate 66 batting)