Ranji Trophy: Rajasthan has Kerala on the mat

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: An inept batting display saw Kerala shooting themselves in the foot on Day 1 of their crucial Elite Group ‘A’ Ranji Trophy game against Rajasthan at the St Xavier’s College Ground, Thumba on Sunday.
The hosts dug themselves into a hole after getting a pitch of their choice, aiding spin, but it was the Rajasthan slower bowlers who capitalized on it to bundle out the hosts for a paltry 90.The change in guard seems to have worked in Rajasthan’s favour as skipper Ashok Menaria, despite losing a crucial toss, marshalled his troops admirably and brought the spinners on early to slice through Kerala batting. Left-arm spinner Shubham Sharma (5/41) was the wrecker-in-chief with Arjit Gupta (2/13) providing him useful support.
Rajasthan batsmen then showed Kerala the art of batting on a wearing track by mixing caution with aggression to help themselves to 173 for four. The visitors now have a lead of 83 runs with six wickets in hand and it would require a herculean effort from the Kerala batsmen in the second essay to prevent Rajasthan from securing their first win in Ranji Trophy this season.
Jalaj Saxena snapped up two wickets in his first over, second of the innings, to give Kerala a sniff when Rajasthan came on to bat. However, opener Yash Kothari and Rajesh Bishnoi thwarted their plans with a counter-attacking partnership of 114 for the third wicket.
Bishnoi, who had snatched a match away from Kerala in Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament earlier in the season with a swashbuckling unbeaten 76, proved to be a thorn in their flesh yet again by smashing his way to a 68-ball 67 (3x4, 5x6) to swing the game decisively in visitors’ favour. A more circumspect Kothari was unbeaten on 66 (136 balls, 9x4) at stumps and giving him company was Menaria on 23.
For Kerala, Jalaj continued his single-handed toil, picking up four Rajasthan wickets to fall on the first day. But he lacked support from fellow spinners Akshay KC and Akshay Chandran while some of the tactics from the Kerala camp raised eyebrows.
Kerala were in a familiar terrain early on, losing both openers Vishnu Vinod (0) and debutant Rohan Kunnummal (8) to Rajasthan new ball bowlers, Aniket Choudhary and Rituraj Singh respectively.
With Kerala on the backfoot, Menaria pressed spinners into service early and they obliged their captain. The defensive approach of the Kerala batters against rival spinners on a pitch conducive to spin didn’t help their cause as wickets kept tumbling at regular intervals.
Skipper Sachin Baby’s (6) attempted sweep of Sharma saw him missing the line of the ball completely and getting bowled.
Rohan Prem and Jalaj Saxena put on a 20-run partnership for the fourth wicket, the best of the Kerala innings before a ball from Gupta climbed on to Rohan and he only managed to fend it to Menaria at first slip. Rohan made 18, the top score in the Kerala innings. In the next over, Sharma removed Mohammed Azharuddeen (1) and Kerala had half the side back in the pavilion with just 48 on the board.
Gupta struck again before lunch, trapping Jalaj Saxena lbw for 11 as the hosts went into the break with a dismal looking score of 63 for six. With Sharma striking in successive overs after lunch, sending both Akshay Chandran (6) and Salman Nizar (11), it was only a matter of time before Kerala were bowled out and the end came in just the 45th over of their innings.