Kerala crush Mumbai in CK Nayudu Trophy

KOCHI: Fabid Farooque Ahmed's allround brilliance steered Kerala to an emphatic 273-run win over Mumbai in the CK Nayudu U-23 Elite Group C match at Sachin Tendulkar Gymkhana, Kandivali on Thursday. After completing his ton early on fourth day morning, Fabid proved to be the tormentor for Mumbai with the ball too as he took five wickets with his off-spin to help his side grab six points from the match.
The win for Kerala is all the more remarkable for Kerala as they had conceded a 50-run first innings lead to Mumbai.But the Kerala batting clicked in unison in the second innings. A century from Salman Nizar (110) and quickire 85 from Vishnu Vinod laid the foundation for a sizeable total for Kerala in their second innings. With Fabid also joining the party, Kerala ended day three at 389 for eight.
On the final day, Fabid resumed his innings from his overnight score of 90 and needed only eight more deliveries to reach the three-figure mark. Kerala declared soon with the total at 415 for eight with an overall lead of 365. Fabid remained unbeaten on 116 (178 balls, 8x4, 4x6).
Facing a tall order in the fourth innings, Mumbai batters succumbed to pressure. Pacer Athif Bin Ashraf had opener Vaidik Murkar caught behind in just the fourth ball of Mumbai innings. Mumbai kept losing wickets at regular intervals as Fabid got into the wicket taking act. Only opener Aakarshit Gomel (32) offered a semblance of a resistance before he became Fabid's first of five victims. Fabid ended with miserly figures of five for 18 from his six overs.
Brief scores: Kerala 171 & 415/8 (Salman Nizar 110, Fabid Ahmed 116 not out, Vishnu Vinod 85; Shubham Ranjane 3-58, SZ Mulani 2-54) beat Mumbai 221 & 92 all out (Fabid Ahmed 5/18, Athif Bin Ashraf 3/11 ) by 273 runs.