The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Kerala bats too cautiously

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Wednesday, Dec 26, 2007
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Kerala bats too cautiously

Special Correspondent

Nagpur: Overtly cautious from the middle session on a hot day, Kerala managed to collect only a meagre 207 runs for the loss of six wickets against Railways in the Ranji Trophy Plate Group seminal at the Vidharba Cricket Stadium here on Tuesday.

Clearly weighed down by the prospect of having to qualify for the Super League from the next season, both teams were a trifle circumspect and negative in their approach; Railways sent down plenty of deliveries beyond the reach of the batsmen and Kerala, put into bat, seemed to be intent on limiting the damage on the opening day of the five-day match. Its most experienced batsman, Srikumar Nair showed monumental patience and lasted for over three hours, but fell to the last ball of the day after Railways claimed the second new ball in the 91st over.

Good start

Kerala promised much after its openers kept the fielders on their toes with some brisk running and finding the odd boundary. Left-hander Sebastian (52, 196m, 134b, 9x4) was quite enterprising and was instrumental in Kerala scoring 94 by lunch. Skipper Sony Cheruvathur, determined to block, may have served a purpose, but Kerala suffered from the want of a quality No. 3 batsman. Cheruvathur survived for nearly two hours and made only a small contribution in the second wicket stand.

Murali Kartik, tried all of the tricks up his sleeve; he even appeared like a left-arm seamer on occasions. He was finally rewarded for his perseverance when he knocked down Rohan Prem’s off stump and had Jagadeesh caught at silly point.

Kartik depended largely on his seamers, and Sanjay Bangar provided two crucial breakthroughs, getting rid of Sebastian, the only half-century maker of the day, and Nair, who made the first mistake in his 178 ball effort by lobbing a catch to Sanjeeb Sanyal at mid-on. The scores: Kerala — Ist innings: M.A. Sebastian c Rawat b Bangar 52, R. Gomez c Sanyal b Saxena 13, S. Cheruvathur c Rawat b Harvidner 26, Srikumar Nair c Sanyal b Bangar 44, R. Prem b Kartik 28, V. Jagadeesh c Pagnis b Kartik 17, P. Prashant (batting) 12, Extras (lb-1, nb-9, w-5) 15; Total (for six in 91 overs) 207.

Fall of wickets: 1-31, 2-92, 3-107, 4-161, 5-184, 6-207.

Railways bowling: Harvinder 18-5-58-1, Saxena 13-7-22-1, Bangar 21-10-28-2, Sanyal 8-2-35-0, Kartik 23-10-31-2, K, Sharma 4-1-15-0, Rawale 4-0-17-0.

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