In control: Patidar’s calm and collected innings took the game away from Kerala.
| Photo Credit: NIRMAL HARINDRAN
A blend of traditional and modern batting by Madhya Pradesh left Kerala with a daunting task for the final day of the Ranji Trophy cricket Elite Group-C match.
The task is looking increasingly difficult after host’s opener Akshay Chandran was castled by Kumar Kartikeya off the penultimate ball of the day’s play.
Chasing a stiff target of 363, Kerala was 28 for one at stumps on the third day with Rohan Kunnummal unbeaten on four.
Madhya Pradesh owed its supremacy to Venkatesh Iyer (80 not out off 70 balls) and his unbroken 84-run ninth-wicket stand with Avesh Khan (22 not out) demoralised the host.
Madhya Pradesh, powered by Ventakesh Iyer’s whirlwind knock and a classical 92 from Rajat Patidar, declared the second innings at 369 for eight.
Venkatesh, hampered by a twisted ankle, showed no mercy on the tiring Kerala attack and hit six sixes, three of them off consecutive deliveries from Jalaj Saxena to race to his fifty.
With as many as nine men patrolling the fence, there were easy runs on offer and both Avesh and Venkatesh helped themselves and piled the pressure with the occasional big hits.
In the morning, the bright sunshine made it less challenging for the overnight batters to negotiate the opening spell from the medium pacers.
But Basil made a ball to nip back and clean up Shubham Sharma (54). However, Patidar drove crisply through the covers and stepped out to carve the spinners through the off-side to score his runs.
Patidar and Harpreet Singh Bhatia added 71 for the fifth wicket when the former was dismissed against the run of play. Patidar looked set for a hundred but perished, playing a loose shot against Basil and was caught at point by Akshay.
Kerala picked up a few quick wickets to peg back Madhya Pradesh. But the ninth wicket stand took the game away from the home team.
The scores:
Madhya Pradesh – 1st innings: 160.
Kerala – 1st innings: 167.
Madhya Pradesh – 2nd innings: Harsh Gawli c Rohan b Nidheesh 7, Himanshu Mantri c Akshay b Basil 31, Shubham Sharma b Basil 54, Rajat Patidar c Akshay b Basil 92, Harpreet Singh Bhatia c Azharuddeen b Basil 36, Saransh Jain c&b Jalaj 16, Aryan Pandey lbw b Jalaj 17, Venkatesh Iyer (not out) 80, Kumar Karthikeya c Akshay b Sarwate 6, Avesh Khan (not out) 21; Extras (nb-1, w-6, b-1, lb-1): 9; Total (for eight wkts. decl. in 101 overs): 369.
Fall of wickets: 1-29, 2-58, 3-154, 4-225, 5-228, 6-247, 7-270, 8-285.
Kerala bowling: Nidheesh 23-5-83-1, Basil 32-9-117-4, Jalaj 22-2-95-2, Sarwate 20-3-61-1, Akshay 4-0-11-0.
Kerala – 2nd innings: Akshay Chandran b Kartikeya 24, Rohan Kunnummal batting 4; Total (for one wkt in 12.5 overs): 28.
Fall of wicket: 1-28.
Madhya Pradesh bowling: Avesh 4-0-11-0, Pandey 4-1-5-0, Kartikeya 2.5-0-6-1, Kuldeep 1-0-1-0, Jain 1-0-5-0.
Published – January 25, 2025 07:32 pm IST
