Kerala grinded out a draw against Karnataka in the sixth round of the Ranji Trophy cricket tournament at the KCA-St.Xavier’s College ground here on Friday.
After conceding a first innings lead of 143, Kerala slumped to 31 for three as off-spinner K. Gowtham removed opener P.Rahul (15) and the reliable Rohan Prem (14) in quick succession. The surface offered enough help for the spinners and Kerala would have been in deep trouble if Shubhang Hegde at mid-on had held on to a regulation catch offered by Sachin Baby, on nine, off Shreyas Gopal.
Sachin Baby made Karnataka pay dearly for the reprieve as he once again played a match saving innings (37 not out) and added 55 runs with Vathsal Govind for the fourth wicket which thwarted Karnataka’s victory bid.
K. Gowthan struck at stroke of tea by dismissing Vathasal Govind (26) caught by Siddharth at gully but Salman Nizar (4 not out) and Sachin Baby played out 10 overs after tea without much difficulty as Karnataka captain Mayank Agarwal agreed for a draw.
Earlier, in the morning, the overnight pair of B.R. Sharath and Shubhang Hedge didn’t show any urgency to force the pace. Sharath after completing his fifty slashed at a wide delivery from M.D.Nidheesh and was caught behind by wicketkeeper P.Rahul for 53. Vaisakh Chandran gave Kerala some lift by cleaning up K. Gowtham cheaply.
But V. Vysakh joined Shubhang Hegde and the pair pinched singles and scored odd boundaries to add 53 runs for ninth wicket. Hegde completed his fifty and Karnataka declared the innings after Vysakh (17) was bowled by Sijomon.
Karnataka skipper Mayank Agarwal, who was the man-of-the-match, said the wicket was challenging to bat on and his gameplan was to stay in the middle and punish the loose balls.
“Kerala bowled very well and it was not an easy wicket to play shots especially for a newcomer. The way Sachin Baby batted in the first innings gave us a fair idea of how to bat on this wicket. I had to work hard for my runs and I chose the right balls to hit. As a team we are happy with the way we are playing. at the moment. We had our chances after we reduced them to 31 for three if we had taken Sachin’s catch things would have been different. Overall it was a good performance from us.’‘ he said.
Kerala coach Tinu Yohannan expressed he was proud of the way his team fought back after being reduced to six for three. “We will take all the positives from this match. We fought back and earned a draw against a strong side. So I am happy with the team’s show.” he said.
