Celebrating in fashion: Sachin Baby is totally delighted after reaching his century.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Bengal captain Manoj Tiwary couldn’t cover his disappointment after Sanju Samson received the toss for the primary time this season. There was a cry of anguish from Tiwary as Kerala opted to bat within the Ranji Trophy match on the St. Xavier’s College floor right here on Friday.
There was bounce and gradual flip for the spinners on the primary day, however one other stubborn century by the dependable Sachin Baby (110 batting) and his unbroken 153-run partnership for the fifth wicket with Akshay Chandran (76 batting) carried Kerala to a snug 265 for 4 at stumps on the primary day.
Kerala was 112 for 4 when Akshay joined Baby quickly after lunch. Shahbaz Ahmed had simply discovered the surface fringe of skipper Samon’s (8) bat with Tiwary finishing a neat catch at first slip. Sanju by no means appeared comfy throughout his keep.
Akshay performed fluently and didn’t waste his good begin not like a few of his fellow batters. When he will get going, Akshay is likely one of the most stylist batters within the workforce. He performed upright and drove with aplomb by way of the covers, swept and used his ft in opposition to the spinners.
Akshay obtained into his groove early with a few neatly pushed boundaries off Akash Deep, who was the stand out bowler for Bengal.
At the opposite finish, Baby performed risk-free cricket to build up runs. The Bengal bowling grew to become a bit erratic after tea and Baby cashed on to the free choices. He lofted Ankit Mishra over the long-on boundary for a six and then tucked the ball behind sq. to finish his third hundred of the season.
Earlier, within the morning, Rohan Kunnummal (19) and Jalaj Saxena (40) gave Kerala one in all its higher begins of the season. Rohan, after smashing just a few boundaries, slashed at a large supply from Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal and was snapped up by Tiwary at first slip.
Rohan Prem (3) failed once more as Kerala slipped to 40 for 2. Jalaj and Baby added 42 for the third wicket, however the former wasted an excellent begin and feathered a catch to wicketkeeper Abhishek Porel off Mishra.
The scores:
Kerala — 1st innings: Rohan S. Kunnummal c Manoj b Jaiswal 19, Jalaj Saxena c Abhishek b Mishra 40, Rohan Prem c Abhishek b Akash Deep 3, Sachin Baby batting 110, Sanju Samson c Manoj b Shahbaz 8, Akshay Chandran batting 76; Extras (b-4, lb-3, w-1, nb-1): 9; Total (for 4 wkts. in 90 over): 265.
Fall of wickets: 1-26, 2-40, 3-82, 4-112
Bengal bowling: Jaiswal 15-3-40-1, Akash Deep 18-5-55-1, Mishra 23-3-53-1, Shahbaz 18-1-59-1, Karan 13-1-35-0, Kharia 3-0-16-0.
