Ranji Trophy: Sachin, Vishnu centuries turn the tables on Madhya Pradesh

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: "You never know, cricket is a funny game," was the refrain from almost everyone in the Kerala camp one got after a terrible second day seemingly ended the contest at the Ranji Trophy Group Elite Group B match against Madhya Pradesh at St Xavier's College ground, Thumba. It looked more like a throwaway comforting line rather than genuine belief at that time but on the third day, they showed they can walk the talk.
The hosts clawed their way back into the match as captain Sachin Baby (143 off 211 balls; 14x4, 3x6) and Vishnu Vinod (155 batting off 226 balls; 18x4, 1x6) scored free-flowing centuries in a spectacular display of fighting spirit and dynamic batting.
Kerala, who began the day at 38 for four in their second innings, finished it at 390/8 with a lead of 125 runs, scoring at nearly four runs per over. Basil Thampi (30 batting) is with Vishnu at the crease.
Sachin's fifth first-class century and Vishnu's first could not have come at a better time for Kerala. They lost VA Jagadeesh (26) and Sanju Samson (19) in the first session itself and Sachin and Vishnu came together at 100/6, with the hosts still trailing by 165 runs. They put on 199 for the seventh wicket in 47 overs.
A batting fightback of this order was totally unexpected from Kerala for in the past they had succumbed to the first sign of adversity. And now they can entertain thoughts of even winning the match on the final day if they can add a few more to their overnight score and put the Madhya Pradesh batsmen under pressure. That said, the pitch has not yet shown any major signs of crumbling.
The Madhya Pradesh seamers Kuldeep Sen and Avesh Khan did not look anywhere near threatening as they had in the previous two days and the spinners could not rise to the occasion. Leg-spinner Mihir Hirwani and left-arm spinner KK Singh went for over four runs per over as Sachin and Vishnu used their feet extremely well to put them under pressure. With the sun beating down, the conditions were suited to batting and the duo made full toll of it.
Sachin, who recorded his second ton of the season, was eventually dismissed by Saransh Jain as the batsman attempted a lofted shot over mid-on and miscued and at that time, Kerala were just 34 runs ahead with three wickets in hand. Vishnu, who was shepherded by the captain till that time, then showed his mettle and carried the fight with the tail and Basil gave him ample support.
Vishnu was playing his first match of this season and has already shown that he has learned to control the urge to flay over the on-side which had brought his downfall many a time in the past. A feature of his batting was how quickly he judged the length of the ball and rocked back to find the gap behind square on the off-side against spinners. He was suffering from cramps towards the end of the day but did not throw it away and picked only the right balls to attack.
"We were not hopeless when we started in the morning and were looking to break it down to small intervals and play and it has worked for us. We are hoping to add a few more runs and anything over 150, I think we can make a match out of it," said Sachin.
"It's 50-50 now on a fourth-day wicket. Our bowlers tried hard. Maybe, we should have done better with the second new ball. Credit goes to their batsmen," said Madhya Pradesh skipper Naman Ojha.
Scoreboard:
Kerala: First innings: 63
Madhya Pradesh: First innings: 328;
Kerala: Second innings:(o/n: 38/2 S Baby c KK Singh b Jain 143, VA Jagadeesh c Ojha b Hirwani 26, S Samson run out S Sharma 19, V Vinod batting 155, Akshay KC b Sen 1, B Thampi batting 30; Extras (b 7, lb 2) 9; Total (8 wickets; 102 overs) 390; Bowling: Sen 21-6-63-3, A Khan 21-4-78-2, M Hirwani 22-1-104-1, Jain 14-1-39-1, KK Singh 18-2-75-0, S Sharma 3-0-8-0, Birla 3-0-14-0.