Ranji Trophy 2026-27: Kerala beats the rain to secure innings win over Odisha
Kerala’s spin trio of Jalaj Saxena, Aditya Sarvate, and Vaisakh Chandran took effect on the final day, taking eight wickets between them to give the team a much-needed win.
A clinical Kerala outpaced the weather to wrap up a comprehensive innings and 36-run win over Odisha in the Ranji Trophy match at the Sports Hub, Greenfield stadium here on Wednesday. The rain did arrive in the afternoon, but it was too late to save Odisha which succumbed to the guiles of Jalaj Saxena in the first session.
Kerala only needed 23.3 overs on the fourth morning to wrap up the Odisha innings for 143. Jalaj bowled with control and varied the pace of the deliveries on a slightly helpful pitch to bamboozle the Odisha batters. Aditya Sarvate and Vaisakh Chandran played their part by maintaining the pressure with their accurate bowling.
The overnight pair of Sandeep Pattnaik and Ninad Rathva showed good temperament to resist the Kerala attack for more than an hour. The breakthrough came when Jalaj foxed Ninad with a slower delivery and lured him out of his crease for Azharuddeen to complete the stumping.
Rajesh Dhuper was then trapped in front off a quicker ball from Jalaj. The off-spinner took his fifth wicket when Soumya Lenka missed the slog sweep and was dismissed leg before. Sandeep’s vigil came to an end rather tamely as he spooned a catch to Abhijith Praveen off Aditya Sarvate.
Two calamitous run outs involving Lalit Yadav after Jalaj’s 37th five wicket haul in first class cricket. brought a swift end to the innings Lalit came in and smote Jalaj for a six to begin aggressively. But he wasn’t given many opportunities by the Kerala bowlers to play the big shots and his anxiety to retain the strike resulted in the run outs of both Rajesh Mohantay and Badal Biswal.
It was a much needed win for Kerala, which will play its next match against Bengal, while Odisha suffered its second straight defeat and will go home to face Services.
Published on Oct 21, 2026
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