Kerala Face Uphill Task Against TN

Chennai, Dec 8 (PTI): Kerala was 27 for 1 in 11 overs at stumps on the third day Saturday,chasing 369 for a win against Tamil Nadu in the Ranji Trophy Elite Group 'B' match here.

K B Arun Karthick (on 12) and Sijomon Joseph (1) were at the crease at close of play.

Tamil Nadu declared their second innings at 252 for 7, riding on half-centuries from captain Baba Indrajith (92) and M Kaushik Gandhi (59) to set the visitors a daunting target.

The home team bowlers came to the fore to dismiss Kerala for 152 in the first innings in response to TN's 268 early this morning as the visitors could add only one run to the overnight score. Rahil Shah removed Sijomon Joseph (29) to finish with 4 for 32.

Left-arm medium-pacer T Natarajan ended with three wickets and R Sai Kishore had two scalps.

Tamil Nadu started the second innings in a brisk fashion as southpaw Abhinav Mukund and Kaushik Gandhi appeared to be on the lookout for runs.

Mukund hit half a dozen boundaries and looked good for a big one, before off-spinner Jalaj Saxena had him caught behind by Vishnu Vinod for 33 (43 balls),having added 55 runs for the opening wicket.

Baba Aparajith (4) didn't last long and fell to a catch by Vishnu Vinod of Sandeep Warrier.

Gandhi (59) was involved in a 78-run partnership for the third wicket with skipper Baba Indrajith, who followed up his first innings knock of 87 with another classy effort.

Indrajith (92, 148 balls) hit six boundaries and fell in the quest for quick runs, missing out on a ton.

The experienced Dinesh Karthik, back in the squad after being part of the national T20 team in Australia, failed for a second time, caught by Arun Karthick of left-arm spinner Sijomon Joseph for 1.

N Jagadeesan (19) fell at the stroke of tea, nicking one to the 'keeper off Warrier, but the overall lead had passed 300 by then.

Debutant M Shahrukh Khan, who made a quick 34 to follow up his first innings knock of 92 not out, was involved in a 62-run partnership with Indrajith for the sixth wicket.

Both fell in quick succession, following which Tamil Nadu declared, leaving Kerala 369 for a victory.

Kerala lost the experienced Jalaj Saxena (12) early in the chase when he gave a catch to Indrajith off Natarajan's bowling.

Brief scores: Tamil Nadu 268 in 98 overs (M Shahrukh Khan 92 not out (155b, 8x4, 1x6), B Indrajith 87, M Mohammed 29, Sandeep Warrier 5 for 52, Basil Thampi 4 for 62) and 252 for 7 declared in 70.5 overs (B Indrajith 92, Kaushik Gandhi 59, Shahrukh Khan 34, Sijomon Joseph 4 for 51) vs Kerala 152 all out in 76.5 overs (P Rahul 59 (116b, 5x4, 1x6), Sijomon Joseph 29, T Natarajan 3 for 43, Rahil Shah 4 for 32) and 27 for 1.

At Mohali: Himachal Pradesh 390 all out in 145.1 overs (R R Dhawan 61, N R Gangta 58, A Kalsi 82, M Dagar 71, Sandeep Sharma 5 for 101) vs Punjab 84 all out in 35.1 overs (M J Dagar 4 for 22) and 195 for 8 in 78 overs (Abhijeet Garg 48, Gurkeerat Mann 33, Shubek Singh Gill 39 batting, G K Singh 4 for 43).

At Indore: Hyderabad 124 all out in 35.3 overs (Himalay Agarwal 69 not out, Avesh Khan 7 for 24) and 185 all out in 65.5 overs (Rohit Rayudu 72, Avesh Khan 5 for 30) lost to Madhya Pradesh 562 for 4 declared in 140.4 overs (Ajay Rohera 267 not out, Rajat Patidar 51, Yash Dubey 139 not out) by an innings and 253 runs.

Points: MP: 7, Hyderabad: 0.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)