Jalaj Saxena is a proven customer in domestic cricket and taking five-wicket hauls comes naturally to him. On Tuesday, he showed the value addition that he brings to this Kerala side by scalping a fifer to dismiss Chhattisgarh for a paltry 149 on Day 1 of their Ranji Trophy tie at St Xavier’s College ground at Thumba.
For the record, this was Jalaj’s 24th five-wicket haul in first-class cricket and the second this season.
At stumps, Kerala were 100 for the loss of two openers, P Rahul (24) and Rohan Kunnummal (31).
Skipper Sanju Samson won the toss and inserted their rivals in, hoping to exploit the early morning moisture in the wicket. However, the Kerala pacers were off the mark, and it was off-spinner Vaisakha Chandran who provided the early breakthrough by dismissing Chhattisgarh opener Sanidhya Hurkat (11) with the total on 20. His partner Rishabh Tiwari (8) fell at the same score as pacer Basil NP accounted for the opener.
The stage was set for Jalaj to take over as he sliced through the Chhattisgarh middle-order. Barring skipper Harpreet Singh (40) and Mayank Yadav (29*), no one could get the measure of Jalaj, who exploited the bounce and turn the wicket offered. And if it wasn’t for Mayank’s 45-run partnership with last man Sourabh Majumdar (19), Chhattisgarh's score would have made for more dismal reading.
Jalaj finished with figures of 5/45 from 18.5 overs. He got valuable support from Vaisakha Chandran (2/39) and part-time spinner Sachin Baby (2/4).
Brief scores:
Chhattisgarh 149 ( Harpreet Singh 40, Mayank Yadav 29*, Jalaj Saxena 5/45, Vaisakh Chandran 2/39, Sachin Baby 2/4) vs Kerala 100/2 (Rohan Kunnummal 31, Rohan Prem 29*)
