Ranji Trophy: We bowled in the right areas, says Chintan Gaja

They were supposed to play the support cast to the spinners on the red soil wicket at the Narendra Modi stadium but captain Chintan Gaja and Arzan Nagwaswalla’s lethal new ball spells rattled Kerala in their Ranji Trophy Elite Group C match here on Wednesday.

Their lion hearted efforts removed the cream of Kerala’s top-order on Tuesday evening and they followed it up the next day with decisive spells after tea with the second new ball. “We knew there would be help with the new ball and we wanted to maximise that advantage.

We struck to the basics, bowled in the right areas and kept the pressure,” said Gaja. “I must compliment our spinners as well as they kept it tight from the other end when they were bowling. Arzan bowled his heart out and stuck to his plan.

His away going deliveries created doubts in the mind of the batters and he was relentless. “We kept getting wickets at right time. We were in the box seat when we dismissed both the overnight batters Sachin Baby and Vishnu Vinod before lunch.

I think Sarvate’s wicket was crucial. He was batting confidently and he got out to a bad shot. We will go all out tomorrow and look for a win,’’ added Gaja. “I struck a nice rhythm early and I was looking to swing the ball.

I am happy to get crucial wickets for the team,’’ said Nagwaswalla.