Kerala was left ruing the weather for the second successive day, as it settled for the first-innings lead in the Ranji Trophy Group ‘C’ match against Tripura at the Perinthalmanna Cricket Ground on Tuesday.
Steady rain had washed out the morning’s play, but a fiery spell of pace bowling by Sandeep Warrier saw the Tripura first innings folding up in no time. That gave the host the opportunity to go for some quick runs and set an interesting target for Tripura in the final innings.
Kerala declared its second innings at 117 for four, leaving Tripura to make 229 in 48 overs. A tough ask indeed for a team whose batsmen have struggled right through the season.
The Kerala players’ hopes too received a setback when the umpires told them that the light wasn’t good enough for the pace bowlers. That led to left-arm spinners S. Monish and Akshay Chandran sharing the new ball. Just 17 overs were possible when the light deteriorated further, with the Tripura score on 53 without loss.
Earlier, Tripura’s first innings lasted just 4.2 overs, after resuming at 224 for seven. The visiting side was dismissed for 236, conceding a lead of 111.
The Tripura tail was mopped up by the pace of Sandeep, who finished with six for 69, his second-best figures in First Class cricket. “Yes, I could bowl well, but I am disappointed that it was in vain as we could not win the match,” he said. “I was hoping to bowl just as well in Tripura’s second innings, after our second-innings had gone the way we wanted.”
Kerala scored 117 for three in that second innings in 19.2 overs, with its batting mainstay Rohan Prem hitting an unbeaten 72 (62b, 95min, 7x4, 2x6). The left-hander is now the leading run-getter in the Ranji Trophy this season with 650 runs at an average of 92.85.
Kerala gets three points from this match and now has 12 points from five games. Tripura has just two, also from five matches.
Tripura’s coach Debu Mitra said he was disappointed with the way his team batted in the first innings. “They got out in strange ways,” he said. “But I am impressed with Kerala’s pace bowler Sandeep Warrier. He is quick and looks extremely promising.”
Kerala’s next is an away match, against Goa at Porvorim, while Tripura will play host to Jharkhand. Both the games start on November 17.
Kerala – 1st Innings: 347.
Tripura – 1st Innings: Udiyan Bose lbw b Monish 62, Arindam Das c Samson b Warrier 0, Nirupam Sen Chowdhary (run out) 36, Parvinder Singh lbw b Warrier 12, Manisankar Murasingh c Prem b Baby 28, Rakesh Solanki b Nidheesh 43, Kaushal Acharjee b Warrier 15, Swapan Das c Samson b Warrier 3, Rana Dutta c Monish b Warrier 9, Tapash Mandal c Prem b Warrier 2, Subhash Chakraborty (not out) 0, Extras (b-2, lb-16, nb-7, w-1) 26; Total (for seven wkts. in 98.2 overs) 236.
Fall of wickets: 1-6, 2-103, 3-130, 4-156, 5-156, 6-216, 7-218, 8-224, 9-235.
Kerala bowling: Sandeep Warrier 23.2-4-69-6, M.D. Nidheesh 11-4-33-1, Raiphi Vincent Gomez 11-1-22-0, S. Monish 27-8-42-1, Rohan Prem 10-2-23-0, Akshay Chandran 8-1-20-0, Sachin Baby 7-3-8-1, V.A. Jagadeesh 1-0-1-0.
Kerala – 2nd Innings: V.A. Jagadeesh b Murasingh 14, Sanju Samson c Arindam b Murasingh 0, Rohan Prem (not out) 72, Sachin Baby n Sen Chowdhary b Murasingh 18, Akshay Kodoth st. b Swapan 7, Extras (b-2, lb-2, nb-1, w-1) 6; Total (for four wkts. declared in 19.2 overs): 117.
Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-55, 3-93.
Tripura bowling: Manisankar Murasingh 10-1-57-3, Rana Dutta 5-0-34-0, Swapan Das 4.3-1-22.
Tripura – 2nd Innings: Udiyan Bose (not out) 32, Arindam Das (not out) 18, Extras (nb-3) 3; Total (for no wkt. in 17 overs): 53.
Kerala bowling: S. Monish 8-2-30-0, Akshay Chandran 8-3-15-0, Rohan Prem 1-0-8-0.
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