MOHALI:
Punjab smelt blood when Manpreet Singh Gony cleaned up Arun Karthick in the very first over of Kerala's second innings at the PCA Stadium here on Monday. But the man who walked in next showed immense guts to crush that feeling. As he cut, drove, swept and hooked, his team members eased into their chairs in the dressing room, confident their first innings' horror outing was way behind them. Wicket-keeper batsman
Mohammed Azharuddeen was the saviour for
Kerala on the second day.
Azharuddeen started confidently, smashing three drives to the boundary in his first 10 deliveries he faced, before playing watchfully against some tight Punjab bowling. His half-century partnership with Rahul P brought Kerala back into the game.
Rahul's resistance came to an end as fell tamely for a hard-fought 28 when he was caught by Baltej Singh off Markande's bowling.
An aggressive Azharuddeen counter-attacked to break the shackles, as he reached his first half century in this season with a powerful cut shot to the boundary. His 181-ball knock has given his team hope.
Kerala reached 127 for three at stumps with Azharudeen 76 not out and skipper Sachin Baby unbeaten on 16. The home side bowled accurately but the pitch eased down late in the day.
In the morning, a fired-up Sandeep Warrior (5/83) bowled out Punjab for 217 in 75.2 overs. It was Warrier's first spell of the morning (9-3-14-3) which brought Kerala back into the match.
Mohali woke up to an even colder morning than that of Sunday's. It was seven degrees Celsius in the morning and Warrier seemed to have relished the conditions. He removed Jiwanjot Singh (69), caught behind by Mohammed Azharuddeen. Next in, Yuivraj Singh also didn't last long, as he was caught by Arun Karthick off Warrier's bowling for 8. A couple of balls later, Gurkeerat Mann was caught behind by Azharuddeen for a duck.
Punjab's wicket-keeper Gitansh Khera (2), who is playing his first match of the season, did not last long as he was trapped in front by M D Nidheesh. Mayanak Markande (1) was run out after a superb piece of fielding by Basil Thampi from deep square leg.
Mandeep Singh, who remained stranded on the other hand, combined with
Manpreet Gony for a crucial eighth-wicket partnership of 34. At the stroke of lunch, Punjab were 206 for 8. Punjab's first innings came to a close half an hour into the second session, with Warrier having skipper Mandeep Singh caught behind by Azharuddeen for a splendid 89.
Mandeep's innings was full of class, temperament and patience. He was very strong on full balls, driving six boundaries gleefully, and struck one six in all during his 182 balls knock. But it was Azharuddeen who stole the show, turning the match interesting after the hosts had threatened to run away with the game on the first day.
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