Six for Jalaj Saxena as Kerala tighten grip against Rajasthan

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: As the shadows were lengthening on the field, Jalaj Saxena was weaving a web around the Rajasthan batsmen and it was getting bigger with each passing over. There was no escape from it as they prodded and plodded on only to end up in the hands of one close-in fielder or the other. Saxena (6/46) picked up all six wickets to fall so far as Rajasthan capitulated to 134 for six, still 199 behind Kerala's first-innings score of 334, at stumps on day two of the Ranji Trophy Group B match here at the St Xavier's College ground, Thumba on Wednesday.
Rajasthan still need 50 more runs to avoid follow-on against the hosts when play resumes on the third day. Wicketkeeping-opener Dishant Yagnik was the lone bright spot in Rajasthan's innings. Yagnik, who had reversed his decision to retire earlier in the season, stuck around and punished the loose balls for a well-made 62, before he became Saxena's fourth victim, caught at slip.
By then, Saxena had got into his groove exploiting the rough outside the left-hander and was causing discomfort for all batsmen. Saxena, who bowled almost unchanged in the last session, first got opener AV Gautham (12) caught at deep square-leg off a miscued slog sweep.
The Rajasthan batsmen went into a shell and that helped Kerala captain Sachin Baby have more close-in fielders and Vishnu Vinod held on to sharp chances at silly point to remove Robin Bist (14) and Ashok Menaria (0). Mahipal Lomror (11) edged to Arun Karthik at slip to complete Saxena's 15th first-class five-wicket haul. In the last over of the day, Rajesh Bishnoi jr (5) padded up to a straighter one to be adjudged lbw and that brought an end to a day in which spin bowlers ruled the roost. It was left-arm spinner Mahipal Lomror who took four wickets (to bundle out Kerala in the morning session.
Kerala, who had resumed the day at 232 for three, lost their way after a good start to the morning session. Sanju Samson was dismissed by Deepak Chahar by 42 and terrible mix-up between Sachin Baby and Arun Karthik saw the latter getting run out. Sachin made a well-compiled 78 but apart from a good cameo by Mohammed Azharuddeen (21), there was not much resistance from the late-order.
Scoreboard:
Kerala (o/n 232/3): S Samson c Yagnik b Chahar 42, S Baby b Lomror 78, A Karthik run out (Chaudhary) 2, M Azharuddeen c Bist b T Singh 21, A Chandran b Lomror 10, S Joseph c Menaria b Lomror 2, M Nidheesh c&b Menaria 6, S Warrier not out; Extras (b5, lb 1, w 1) 7; Total (all out in 118.3 overs) 335;
FoW: 4/266, 5/279, 6/311, 7/313, 8/328, 9/ 335, 10/335;
Bowling: P Singh 18-3-72-1, A Choudhary 12-3-43-0, R Bishnoi jr 26-4-60-1, Chahar 16-5-44-1, T Singh 16-7-44-1, Lomror 22.3-6-51-4, Menaria 3-0-3-1;
Rajasthan: A Gautham c Chandran b Saxena 12, D Yagnik c Karthik b Saxena 62, R Bist c Vinod b Saxena 14, A Menaria c Vinod b Saxena 0, M Lomror c Karthik b Saxena 11, R Bishnoi sr batting 22, R Bishnoi jr lbw Saxena 5; Extras (b 8) 8; Total (For 6 wkts in 56.3 overs) 134;
FoW: 1/40, 2/70, 3/70, 4/107, 5/112, 6/134;
Bowling: Warrier 10-1-26-0, Saxena 22.3-5-46-6, M Nidheesh 7-3-10-0, A Chandran 1-0-2-0, S Joseph 15-2-39-0, R Prem 1-0-3-0.