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Rohan Prem saves Kerala the blushes

Principal Correspondent

GRITTY KNOCK: P. Prasanth provided support to Rohan Prem in the 82-run stand as Kerala avoided the follow-on against Andhra.

THALASSERY: One of the dreariest cricket matches in recent times ended on Friday with Andhra taking the first innings lead against Kerala.

The Ranji Trophy Plate Group B encounter was predictably drawn as just 20 wickets fell over four days at the Thalassery Cricket Stadium.

Andhra gets three points and Kerala one.

The only interesting point of the day — the start of which was delayed by an hour and 45 minutes due to a wet ground caused by overnight rain — was if Andhra could enforce a follow-on, but a stubborn Rohan Prem (91) saved the blushes for the host.

His 82-run stand with P. Prasanth (35) for the seventh wicket proved crucial as Kerala, after resuming at the overnight 208 for six, made 336.

Andhra had scored 442 in its first innings. If the visiting side had made its runs at 2.5 runs an over, Kerala scored at 2.3.

That should just about sum up the quality of cricket that was played over four dreadful days. Add to that a nightmare of a wicket for bowlers and you will get the full picture.

Complain against Prasad

The final day saw Andhra’s off-spinner G.V.S. Prasad picking up five wickets, but his achievement has come under a cloud because the Kerala Cricket Association (KCA) has decided to lodge a complaint for illegal action.

“We will soon be officially lodging the complaint,” said KCA secretary T.C. Mathew.

The scores:

Andhra — 1st innings: 442.

Kerala — 1st innings: K. Sambasiva Sarma c Manoj b Kalyan 16, V.A. Jagadeesh c Sumanth b Prasad 50, Sachin Baby (run out) 32, Sreekumar Nair (run out) 4, Rohan Prem c Swaroop b Prasad 91, Raiphy Vincent Gomes c Manoj b Prasad 0, Vinan G. Nair c Sumanth b Achyut 44, P. Prasanth c Venugopala b Shankara 35, Sony K. Cheruvathur c Manoj b Prasad 28, Tinu Yohannan c Achyut b Prasad 11, S. Sreesanth (not out) 22; Extras (lb-2, nb-1): 3; Total (all out in 145.1 overs): 336.

Fall of wickets: 1-38, 2-99, 3-103, 4-109, 5-109, 6-182, 7-264, 8-282, 9-305, 10-336.

Andhra bowling: Shahabuddin 19-4-44-0, Kalyan 15-7-29-1, Shankara 45-15-116-1, Achyut 24-12-45-1, Prasad 42.1-14-100-5.

Andhra — 2nd innings: Hemal Watekar (not out) 21, L.N. Prasad Reddy (not out) 18; Extras (7-nb) 7; Total (for no wicket in 11 overs) 46.

Kerala bowling: Sreesanth 2-0-9-0, Tinu 3-0-18-0, Sony 3-1-10-0, Raiphy 2-0-8-0, Vinan 1-0-1-0.

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