Kerala did enough initially to wrap up Tamil Nadu’s innings in quick time for 268 with pacer Sandeep Warrier completing his fifer, but at the end of the day the visiting team was staring down the barrel at 151 for nine on the second day of the Ranji Trophy clash here on Friday.
Debutant Shahrukh Khan was unlucky to miss out on a century after he was stranded on 92 when Basil Thampi cleaned up the last two wickets in one over.
The home team rode on contributions from every bowler, led by pacer T. Natarajan’s three wickets.
Natarajan set things rolling with a classical left-arm pacer’s delivery to Jalaj Saxena, bringing the ball in and finding the off-stump.
However, K.B. Arun Karthick and P. Rahul steadied the innings and looked comfortable in keeping the TN bowlers at bay.
But, just a few overs before lunch, left-arm spinner Rahil Shah struck, trapping Arun Karthick leg-before while trying to sweep.
Post lunch, the TN bowlers took charge. Sanju Samson drove one past mid-off for a boundary after which the ball was changed as it had gone out of shape. That marked the change of course of the match. Natarajan, coming around the wicket, immediately removed Samson bowled trying to go for another expansive drive.
Rahul was the only batsman who looked untroubled against the TN bowlers, be it pace or spin. He started with two boundaries off Mohammed before hitting Kaushik Gandhi for a huge six and looked comfortable driving Natarajan despite some reverse swing. A fine cover drive took him to his half-century.
After Rahil Shah accounted for skipper Sachin Baby (caught in the slips), Sai Kishore struck in his second over trapping the well-set Rahul leg-before.
In his next over, he accounted for Vishnu Vinod, also caught in the slips, Indrajith taking a sharp catch to leave Kerala struggling at 110 for six at tea.
Post-tea, Aksahyan Chandran and Sijomon Joseph batted sensibly to frustrate the TN bowlers though runs were hard to come by with a 27-run partnership before Chandran and Basil Thampi was removed in quick succession to leave the visitors at 138 for nine.
The scores:
Tamil Nadu — 1st innings: Abhinav Mukund lbw b Warrier 0, Kaushik Gandhi c Arun Karthick b Thampi 16, B. Aparajith b Warrier 3, B. Indrajith b Warrier 87, Dinesh Karthik c Arun Karthick b Thampi 4, N. Jagadeesan c Rahul b Saxena 21, M. Shahrukh Khan (not out) 92, M. Mohammed c Vishnu Vinod b Warrier 29, R. Sai Kishore c Vishnu Vinod b Warrier 5, Rahil Shah c Arun Karthick b Thampi 0, T. Natarajan b Thampi 0; Extras (nb-1, b-4, lb-6): 11. Total (in 98 overs): 268.
Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-19, 3-23, 4-31, 5-81, 6-184, 7-253, 8-267, 9-268.
Kerala bowling: Warrier 25-7-52-5, Thampi 19-4-62-4, Akshay Chandran 13-2-30-0, Saxena 25-1-77-1, Joseph 16-1-37-0.
Kerala — 1st innings: K.B. Arun Karthick lbw b Rahil 22, Jalaj Saxena b Natarajan 4, P. Rahul lbw b Sai Kishore 59, Sanju Samson b Natarajan 9, Sachin Baby c Indrajith b Rahil 1, V.A. Jagadeesh c Shahrukh b Rahil 8, Vishnu Vinod c Indrajith b Sai Kishore 0, Akshay Chandran c Indrajith b Aparajith 14, Sijomon Joseph (batting) 28, Basil Thampi c Dinesh Karthik b Natarajan 2, Sandeep Warrier (batting) 0; Extras (b-1, lb-1, w-2): 4. Total (for nine wickets in 75 overs): 151.
Fall of wickets: 1-11, 2-46, 3-71, 4-85, 5-97, 6-103, 7-111, 8-138, 9-141.
Tamil Nadu bowling: Natarajan 20-6-42-3, Mohammed 14-4-29-0, Rahil Shah 19-9-32-3, Kaushik Gandhi 4-1-16-0, Sai Kishore 13-5-22-2, Aparajith 5-0-8-1.
