Kerala sealed a place in the Ranji Trophy knockouts with a resounding innings and 169-run win over Bihar at the Sports Hub here on Friday.
The win with a bonus point took Kerala’s tally to 28 points and it is momentarily perched at top of Group-C. Bihar capitulated embarrassingly on a wicket which was still pretty good for batting. The visitor’s first innings lasted a mere 23.1 overs with the last nine wickets falling for just 24 runs. Jalaj Saxena (5/19) was the standout bowler for Kerala in the first innings. There was slow turn for the spinners and the odd ball kept low but it was exacerbated by the lack of application and poor stroke selection of the Bihar batters.
There was no inkling of the collapse when Sharman Nigrodh (21) and Ayush Lokarukha (13) used the sweep shot effectively against the spinners. However, the shot brought the downfall of Ayush who was caught by Jalaj at deep square leg fence off Aditya Sarwate. Ayush’s dismissal started a steady procession which ended with the comical run out of Abhishek Singh(1).
Kerala enforced the follow on and inept batting continued from Bihar. Mahrour (5) edged a straighter ball from Vaiskah Chandran to Sachin Baby at first slip. Sharman (15) gave Jalaj the charge and was stumped by Mohammed Azharudden. M.D. Nidheesh cleaned up Ayush (9) with an incoming delivery. Jalaj joined the party by coaxing Bipin Saurabh (9) to mishit a shot to Anand Krishnan at covers. Sakibul Gani (31) and captain Veer Pratap Singh (30) led a brief fightback and figured in a 45-run stand for the sixth wicket. Gani and Veer left in quick succession and Jalaj picked up his second five-wicket haul (5/34) to bundle out Bihar for 118 in the second innings.
Earlier in the morning, Salman Nizar and Vaisakh Chandran extended their last wicket partnership to 70 runs. While Vaisakh blocked, Salman Nizar clubbed the bowlers to race to 150 and enabled Kerala cross the 350-run mark. Guhlam Rabbani finally dismissed Nizar, who edged one to wicketkeeper Sharman, to end his team’s agony.
The scores: Kerala – Ist innings: Akshay Chandran c Ayush b Yashpal 38, Rohan S. Kunnummal c Ayush b Harsh Singh 3, Anand Krishnan c Mahrour b Rabbani 11, Sachin Baby b Abhishek 4, Shoun Roger c Saurabh b Veer Pratap 59, Nizar c Sharman b Rabbni 150, Mohammed Azharuddeen c Gani b Sachin 9, Jalaj Saxena c Sharman b Sachin 5, Aditya Sarwate b Gani 6, M. D. Nidheesh c Veer Pratap b Harsh Singh 30, Vaisakh Chandran (not out) 5; Extras (b-16, lb-5, nb-8, w-2): 31; Total (in 101.2 overs): 351.
Fall of wickets: 1-8, 2-33, 3-42, 4-81, 5-170, 6-183, 7-189, 8-202, 9-281.
Bihar bowling: Veer Pratap 13-0-64-1, Harsh Vikram Singh 9-0-40-2, Abhishek 10-3-16-1, Rabbani 9.2-0-37-2, Gani 21-3-47-1, Sachin 32-7-87-2, Yadav 6-0-32-1, Mahrour 1-0-7-0.
Bihar – Ist innings: Mahrour b Vaisakh 6, Sharman b Jalaj 21, Ayush c Jalaj b Sarwate 13, Gani c Baby b Jalaj 0, Bipin c Baby b Jalaj 4, Sachin b Nidheesh 2, Veer Pratap c Azharuddeen b Jalaj 0, Harsh c Rohan b Jalaj 5, Rabbani b Nidheesh 10, Yadav (not out) 2, Abhishek run out 1; Total (in 23.1 overs): 64.
Fall of wickets: 1-15, 2-40, 3-40, 4-43, 5-46, 6-45, 7-50, 8-57, 9-63.
Kerala bowling: Nidheesh 8-1-23-2, Jalaj 7.1-1-0-19-5, Vaisakh 4-1-13-1, Sarwate 4-1-9-1.
Bihar – 2nd innings: Mahrour c Baby b Vaisakh 5, Sharman st Azharuddeen b Jalaj 15, Ayush b Nidheesh 9, S. Gani c Azharuddeen b Sarwate 31, Bipin Sauabh c Anand Krishnan b Jalaj 9, Sachin Kumar Singh b Jalaj 2, Veer Pratap Singh c Jalaj b Sarwate 30, Harsh Vikram Singh (not out) 7, Abhishek lbw b Sarwate 0, J.P. Yadav b Jalaj 3, Ghulam Rabbani c Sarwate b Jalaj 2; Extras (b-1, 1b-4): 5; Total (in 41.1 overs): 118.
Fall of wickets: 1-5, 2-16, 3-44, 4-56, 5-60, 6-105, 7-106, 8-106, 9-114.
Kerala bowling: Nidheesh 6-0-23-1, Vaisakh 7-3-16-1, Sarwate 12-3-27-3, Jalaj 11.1-0-34-5, Akshay 5-0-13-0.
PoM: Nizar.
Published – January 31, 2025 08:21 pm IST
