Tail helps Kerala take 1st-innings lead

Dhanbad:Kerala’s tail did more than their top-order as they took the all-important first-innings lead against Jharkhand at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here on Tuesday.
Their last-wicket pair capitalized on sloppy fielding and inept strategy of the hosts to stitch a 55-run partnership that not only crossed Jharkhand’s total but also gave the visitors a significant lead of 46 runs. The last wicket finally fell at 383.
Kerala were still 17 runs adrift Saurabh Tiwary and Co.’s total when K Monish, the man whose unbeaten 75 made the lead possible, went for a slog sweep, only to find the deep mid-wicket fielder under it. But he dropped the dolly. That was the last chance Jharkhand got before Monish and last man Thampi overtook their total.
Jharkhand were 68 for one at stumps with a full day’s play coming up. With the kind of turn and variable bounce the pitch is producing, Kerala could think of going for an outright victory, given the success their spinners had in the hosts’ first innings. Since regular opener Rameez Nemat is not fully fit, Shahbaz Nadeem (39 batting) opened with Ishan Kishan.
The day did not start well for Jharkhand. With Kerala 179 for five overnight, they would have hoped to get into the tail quickly and grab the first-innings lead. But that was not to be. Pacer Ashish Kumar caught the outside edge of Gomez in the first over of the day but it went through second slip and gully. From the other end, Rituraj Singh could not be as effective as Monday evening. So Tiwary had to introduce spin while there was still help for pacers. He opted for leg-spinner Samar Quadri over the more experienced Shahbaz Nadeem.
The move did not work. Overnight not out batsmen Rohan Prem and Gomez scored freely. It was only when Nadeem finally came on that the partnership was broken. The left-arm spinner had him caught at slip by Kaushal Singh, after a half-century.
Strangely enough, the Jharkhand captain went for the new ball while Nadeem was bowling well. That only increased the speed of scoring, with Gomez taking some lusty blows, the standout one being a hooked six over square leg off Kumar. Gomez finally fell to Quadri for 76 as spin was introduced from both ends.
The floodgates suddenly seemed to have opened for Jharkhand as Nadeem bowled Vinoop Manoharan round the legs soon after and Rituraj, back into the attack, bowled a real fast one to trap Anthaf in front of the wicket. But Tiwary suddenly started treating No. 8 Monish as a frontline batsman, spreading the field while he was on strike and placing catchers, rarely more than two when Thampi batted. Monish batted intelligently to use it to his advantage and take the team past Jharkhand’s score. After that, the Jharkhand cricketers looked like waiting for the wicket to fall. Nadeem even dropped Monish before finding Thampi’s leg before wicket with an arm ball.