It seems there is no immediate solution to Kerala’s batting woes. The four changes, including handing over debuts to three youngsters, did little to arrest a familiar collapse as Kerala put up another underwhelming show with the bat and handed over the advantage to host Bihar in their Ranji Trophy cricket match at the Moin Ul Haq stadium here on Friday.
Forced to bat under overcast conditions after a delayed start of 90 minutes, Kerala’s top order crumbled against Bihar’s opening bowlers Veer Pratap Singh (3/26) and Vipul Krishna (2/57) before a rearguard century by Shreyas Gopal (113 batting) carried the visitor to 203 for nine at stumps.
The new opening pair of captain Rohan Kunnammal and debutant Anand Krishnan lasted just four overs when Vipul breached the former’s defence. The ball darted around, and the reliable Sachin Baby and Vishnu Vinod retreated early to the dressing room. Akshay Chandran, who replaced Rohan Prem, rode his luck early on, but Anand Krishnan fell to Veer for nine and Kerala wobbled at 34 for four at lunch.
Shreyas was not averse to punishing the loose balls and got into his stride by square driving Veer for a boundary. Shreyas and Akshay added 50 runs for the fifth wicket to revive the innings. However, leg spinner Himanshu Singh forced Akshay to edge a catch to Piyush at short leg. Himanshu knocked out debutant Vishnu Raj’s leg stump to leave Kerala reeling at 102 for six.
Then Shreyas and Jalaj Saxena took the attack to the Bihar bowlers and figured in a 61-run stand for the seventh wicket. It was the briefest of periods when Kerala batters looked to be in control over the bowling.
However, Jalaj’s wild slog off Vipul saw Pratap take a tumbling catch at deep square leg to end the stand. Himanshu dismissed Basil Thampi for a golden duck as Kerala slumped to 164 for eight. Nidheesh resisted for a while before Himanshu trapped him leg before.
Shreyas in company of debutant Akhin Sattar then frustrated Bihar to add 27 runs for the last wicket. Shreyas farmed the strike and struck a flurry of boundaries to reach the landmark and finished the day with a flourish, tonking Himanshu over mid-wicket for a six.
The scores: Kerala — 1st innings: Anand Krishnan c Gani b Veer 9, Rohan Kunnammal b Vipul 5, Sachin Baby b Veer 1, Vishnu Vinod c Sraman b Veer 0, Akshay Chandran c Piyush b Himanshu 37, Shreyas Gopal (batting) 113, Vishnu Raj b Himanshu 1, Jalaj Saxena c Pratap b Vipul 22, Basil Thampi lbw b Himanshu 0, M.D. Nidheesh lbw b Himanshu 0, Akhin Sattar (batting) 0; Extras (b-4, 1b-8, w-3): 15; Total (for nine wkts in 68 overs): 203.
Fall of wickets: 1-14, 2-15, 3-15, 4-34, 5-84, 6-102, 7-163, 8-164, 9-176.
Bihar bowling: Veer 10-5-26-3, Vipul 19-3-57-2, Ashutosh 15-1-36-0, Pratap 4-0-21-0, Himanshu 17-4-50-4, Gani 1-0-1-0.
