The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Sreekumar, Ramesh help out Kerala

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Sreekumar, Ramesh help out Kerala

Sports Reporter

Palakkad: It was a featherbed of a pitch but the Kerala batsmen failed to capitalise on it and ended the day at 219 for six against Vidarbha in the Ranji Trophy Plate League Group `A' opener at the Fort Maidan on Thursday. At stumps, skipper Sreekumar Nair (56) and wicketkeeper C.M. Deepak (5) were at the crease.

Kerala's coach Parthasarathi Sharma, only the other day had said it would be a good wicket to bowl on. But quite surprisingly, Kerala won the toss and chose to bat. Guest star and former India player Sadagopan Ramesh (47, 71b, 8x4) looked a bit shaky at the start. So was V.A. Jagadeesh.

However, the former wasted no time in regaining his old touch. The left-hander from Tamil Nadu, despite losing his partner early, played shrewdly to collect some quick runs. He dispatched even the most difficult of deliveries to the ropes with authority.

Robert Fernandez (16), at the other end, failed to learn a few lessons from his more experienced partner and offered an easy return catch to left-arm medium pacer Chandrasekhar Atram (three for 13), who was easily the best bowler.

In fact, it was Atram who applied the brakes on Ramesh with a delivery that stood up. The batsman, trying to cut it, played on.

Debutant Raiphy Vincent Gomez (16) and S. Suresh (16) soon followed suit. Just when the match seemed to be drifting Vidarbha's way, Sreekumar and Vipin Lal (38, 5x4, 1x6) put up an 88-run partnership for the sixth wicket to steer the team to a slightly better position.

The scores: Kerala (first innings): V.A. Jagadeesh b Sandip Singh 7, Sadagopan Ramesh b C. Atram 47, Robert Fernandez c & b C. Atram 16, S. Suresh c A. Deshpande b A. Naidu 16, R.V. Gomez c M. Acharya b C. Atram 16, Vipin Lal c A. Naidu b M. Acharya 38, Sreekumar Nair (batting) 56, C.M. Deepak (batting) 5; Extras: (b-1, lb-3, nb-13, w-1) 18; Total: (for six wkts, 90 overs) 219.

Fall of wickets: 1-18, 2-73, 3-81, 4-103, 5-124, 6-212.

Vidarbha bowling: Sandip Singh 16.5-5-41-1, C. Atram 15.1-0-36-3, A. Naidu 17-6-42-1, Faiz Fazal 2-1-8-0, M. Acharya 13-2-43-1, A. Wakhare 13-1-27-0, Samir Khare 6-1-12-0, H. Shitoot 7-2-6-0.

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