Twitterati celebrate Kerala's maiden quarter-final qualification in the Ranji Trophy

The Kerala state team encrypted their name in the history of Indian cricket by qualifying for the quarter-final for the Ranji Trophy 2017-18 season. They beat Haryana by a huge margin of an innings and eight runs to book their spot. The credit of the win largely goes to all-rounder Jalaj Saxena, who scored 91 runs with the bat and also took four wickets and was adjudged the Player of the match for his all-round effort.

Haryana team was bowled out in both the innings of the match, after a poor performance by their batters in the fixture. It is the first occasion in the history of Ranji Trophy that the Kerala team has reached the quarter-finals of the tournament. They have now finished at the second spot in the Group B points table with a tally of 31 points, just behind Gujarat who have a total of 34 points.

The story of the match

Haryana skipper Amit Mishra won the toss and elected to bat first. The openers Guntashveer Singh and Shubham Rohilla gave their team a good start by adding 66 runs for the opening wicket. But the rest of the players failed to contribute big runs and as a result they were bowled out for 208 runs in the first of the four-day game. For Kerala, medium-pacer Sandeep Warrier took four wickets and other bowlers supported him well.

In reply, the Kerala batsmen Jalaj Saxena and Rohan Prem played a great part with their partnership of 172 runs. But unfortunately, both of them lost their wickets in the nineties. They provided a good platform for the rest of the team and also helped their side take a crucial first innings lead of 181 runs. Ajit Chahal took a five-wicket haul to dismiss the Kerala team for 389 runs.

But the Haryana batters once again failed to apply themselves on the wicket and were bowled out for just 173 runs in the second innings. Saxena was the pick of the bowlers by taking 3 wickets. A lot of fans on Twitter joined the state team in their celebrations after making history on the back of their memorable performance.

Here is how the fans reacted:

Wow! What a moment for kerala cricket. Qualified for the Ranji trophy quarterfinals for the first time.

— Sreenath Sreekumar (@cheta_sree) November 28, 2017

Ranji Trophy QF for the first time ever. Congratulations Kerala !

— Vipul (@Sporty_Baba) November 28, 2017

Kerala makes it to #RanjiTrophy Quarter-finals for first time. All Credit Goes to Coach Dav Whatmore. Top Performance By Sanju, Saxena, Sachin, Karthik & Thampi.. Congratulations Kerala Ranji Trophy Team. ?? #RanjiTrophy @KCAcricket

— Rajesh Khilare (@Cricrajeshpk) November 28, 2017

#Kerala cruises into the Quarter Finals of #RanjiTrophy for the first time in History..

Go boys..Make us even more prouder..

— Forum Keralam (FK) (@Forumkeralam1) November 28, 2017

Great day for Kerala cricket..
Kerala won the match by an innings against Haryana in #RanjiTrophy and reached quarter finals. #HARvKER ❤️❤️

— Dinu (ദിനു) (@Dinoop_nair) November 28, 2017

Kerala makes it to the Ranji Trophy Quarter-finals for the first time. Their previous best was Super League in 1996/97 and Pre-Quarters in 1995/96. (Excluding Plate Group) #RanjiTrophy

— Sampath Bandarupalli (@SampathStats) November 28, 2017

Great ! Just came From the College & Heard the News that Kerala Has Qualified into the Quarters of Ranji Trophy 2017-18#HARvKER #RanjiTrophy

— Johns ? (@CricCrazyJohns) November 28, 2017

Congrats @RanjiKerala, @cheta_sree & all the Kerala cricket supporters on the team sealing historic maiden #RanjiTrophy QF berth.

— Chinmay Jawalekar? (@CricfreakTweets) November 28, 2017