The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Kerala manages a draw

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Monday, Nov 27, 2006
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Kerala manages a draw

Principal Correspondent

Vidarbha takes two points

Palakkad: Kerala was hoping to make the most of its home match against Vidarbha, but it was the latter which walked away with the gains in their Ranji Trophy Plate League Group `A' opener at the Fort Maidan here on Sunday. Vidarbha took two points for its first innings lead as the match meandered to a draw.

The host made its intentions clear today — it wanted to salvage a draw. It realised its objective with ease, scoring 277 for six in 97 overs in its second essay, before the two captains decided to call off the match prior to the start of the mandatory overs.

The first 10 overs of the day told the whole story. Former India star Sadagopan Ramesh (60, 93b, 10x4), who had looked solid on Saturday and cracked as many as nine boundaries, went on the defensive.

Robert Fernandez (72, 219b, 10x4) supported his senior partner well.

The pair added just 15 runs off the first nine overs before Ramesh succumbed to a well-directed delivery from Chandrasekhar Atram for the second time in the match.

The former Tamil Nadu player, in a desperate bid to keep the ball down, offered a low diving catch to Owammir Afzal at gully.

S. Suresh, who walked in next, decided to be more adventurous and twice cut Madusudhan Acharya to the cover boundary. But he did not last long, edging Acharya to Alind Naidu at first slip.

Attacking mood

The post-lunch session saw skipper Sreekumar Nair (58 not out, 157b, 6x4) and Fernandez in an attacking mood.

The former, who started at a snail's pace, gathered pace midway through his innings to post his second half-century of the match.

The duo also went on to complete a century partnership for the fourth wicket.

Kerala was also a batsman short, as debutant Raiphy Vincent Gomez had to rush to Thiruvananthapuram after the sudden demise of his father.

The host takes on Madhya Pradesh at the same venue from December 1 to 4.

The scores:

Kerala — 1st innings: 291.

Vidarbha — 1st innings: 346.

Kerala — 2nd innings: V.A. Jagadeesh lbw b S. Singh 4, S. Ramesh c Afzal b Atram 60, R. Fernandez c Afzal b Khare 72, S. Suresh c Naidu b Acharya 26, Sreekumar Nair (not out) 58, Vipin Lal b Wakhare 13, C.M. Deepak c Fazal b Wakhare 2, S. Aneesh (not out) 27; Extras (lb-4, nb-11): 15; Total (for six wkts. in 97 overs): 277.

Fall of wickets: 1-20, 2-85, 3-121, 4-222, 5-243, 6-245.

Vidarbha bowling: S. Singh 14-3-41-1, Atram 13-5-32-1, Naidu 8-1-34-0, Shitoot 5-0-24-0, Acharya 23-3-62-1, Wakhare 22-6-57-2, Khare 12-2-23-1.

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