“A square turner,” demanded the home team. “Yes, sir,” said the curator.
“Thank you,” said the visiting team and won the game with plenty of time to spare, on account of superior spinners. Jammu & Kashmir did Kerala in in the Ranji Trophy Group ‘C’ encounter at the Perinthalmanna Cricket Ground.
Jammu won by 74 runs, with a day to spareChasing an unlikely — given the state of the wicket — 204 for win, Kerala was bowled out for 129. Off-spinner Parvez Rassol and leg-spinner Manik Gupta did all the damage, picking up five wickets apiece. Rassol finished the match with eight wickets.
Earlier, Jammu resuming at 68 for three, was dismissed shortly before lunch, with left-arm spinner P. Prasanth picking up five wickets. Skipper Ian Dev Singh, who had carried the bat in the first innings for 117 not out, was the topscorer with 37; he was fittingly named Man of the Match.
“Ian’s batting made the difference in the match,” said a delighted Jammu coach Bishan Singh Bedi. “But Rassol bowled beautifully and I expected him to, but Manik did surprise me though.”
Jammu gets six points for the win and has moved on to 13 while Kerala remains on four; the teams have played five matches apiece.
The scores: Jammu & Kashmir – 1st innings: 215.
Kerala – 1st innings: 163.
Jammu & Kashmir – 2nd innings: Adil Rishi lbw b Sreejith 2, Ian Dev Singh c Prasanth b Sreejith 37, Bandeep Singh c Akshay b Sreejith 0, Parvez Rassol b Prasanth 21, Manik Gupta c Jagadeesh b Rohan 5, Owais Shah c Jagadeesh b Rohan 0, Hardeep Singh c Jagadeesh b Prasanth 17, Obaid Haroon b Prasanth 32, Ram Dayal b Prasanth 6, Waseem Raza lbw b Prasanth 0, Mohammed Mudhasir (not out) 19, Extras (b-10, lb-1, nb-1) 12; Total (all out in 59.4 26 overs) 151.
Fall of wickets: 1-15, 2-19, 3-56, 4-68, 5-68, 6-72, 7-104, 8-122, 9-122, 10-151.
Kerala bowling: C.P. Shahid 18-7-39-0, P. Prasanth 14.4-7-16-5, Sreejith 19-4-56-3, Rohan Prem 8-1-29-2.
Kerala – 2nd innings: Abhishek Hegde c Ian b Gupta 22, V.A. Jagadeesh lbw b Gupta 25, Rohan Prem c Ian b Rassol 0, Robert Fernandez lbw b Rassol 1, Sachin Baby c Ian b Rassol 4, Akshay Kodoth c Rishi b Gupta 19, P. Prasanth st Haroon b Rassol 16, Manu Krishnan c Haroon b Gupta 14, N. Niyas c Bandeep b Gupta 8, C.P. Shahid b Rassol 2, K.R. Sreejith (not out) 0, Extras (b-12, lb-5, nb-1) 18; Total (all out in 40.4 overs) 129.
Fall of wickets: 1-44, 2-49, 3-57, 4-65, 5-65, 6-85, 7-114, 8-125, 9-128, 10-129.
Jammu & Kashmir bowling: Mohammed Mudhasir 4-1-12-0, Ram Dayal 1-0-6-0, Waseem Raza 7-1-18-0, Parvez Rassol 18-3-43-5, Manik Gupta 9.4-3-26-5, Bandeep Singh 1-0-7-0.
