The groundsmen lingered near the pitch until Jamtha turned eerily dark and before the swarm of bats flew out from their hideouts under the floodlights. The long-toothed brooms whipped up clouds of dust from the weary surface, before the staff flattened the roughs with large, green hammers. Beyond the boundary ropes, on the linear balcony with wood-panelled walls, Vidarbha’s players were chit-chatting and giggling. The opposite end was empty, the Kerala contingent had left in a hurry, leaving just a trail of empty water bottles, torn sheets of paper and perhaps broken shards of their dreams. The mood of the two sides could not have been starker when the third day ended. Vidarbha were jubilant and relaxed. They might not be underestimating Kerala’s comeback tendencies, there could be more devious twists, yet the joy born out of Kerala’s flaky collapse, was irresistible for them to hide. Harsh Dubey, who became the highest wicket-taker in a single Ranji season, reveals as much: “We definitely have a massive advantage, a lead of 37 runs, and they have …