Consolation for Jharkhand

Dhanbad: K Monish had earned Kerala three points on Tuesday itself, so the year-end action at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here was about consolidation for the visitors and finding some hope for the New Year for hosts Jharkhand.
Both happened without much trouble. Kerala quietly completed the formalities and Jharkhand skipper Saurabh Tiwary hit form with an unbeaten 125 as Jharkhand finished on the same score as their first innings, albeit losing only half the side this time.
Once Jharkhand reached the lunch break losing just the wicket of Shahbaz Nadeem (71) and extending their lead to 104 runs, it was clear that something dramatic was needed for an outright result. But neither side was keen for any drama.
Jharkhand’s overnight unbeaten batsmen Nadeem and Virat Singh did not try to score at a fast clip. When captain Tiwary came in, he, too, was content defending. He opened up only after completing his century later in the day. With Ishank Jaggi he shared a 123-run partnership and ensured one point did not slip out of Jharkhand’s hands. Even though Tiwary scored an unbeaten century, Jaggi, who scored a double century in the last match, was dismissed for 51.
Kerala captain Sachin Baby kept the bowling mostly to his four spin options — man-of-the-match Monish, Vinoop Manoharan, Rohan Prem and Amit Verma. But none of them could extract the kind of help the hosts’ spin twins did on Tuesday. Not that they were encouraged to, with the captain setting defensive fields.
Three points from this match took Kerala to the second position. Meanwhile, Jharkhand who are sitting seventh in the nine-team Group C of Ranji Trophy, will take some heart from Tiwary’s hundred even though the innings did not help the team’s cause this time. Nadeem’s all-round performance (4/74 and 71 with the bat, filling in for opener Rameez Nemat who is down with fever) was another high point for them. So was young Virat’s century in the first innings.
Kerala, after underachieving for the first one-and-a-half days, showed the difference in class between them and Jharkhand, whose top-order batting remains a problem when it matters. They would also need to stop dropping catches if they hope to fare better in their next match against Andhra Pradesh.