Nizar carried the day for Kerala with his gritty knock.
| Photo Credit: NIRMAL HARINDRAN
Salman Nizar’s maiden First-Class century (111 not out) lifted Kerala from the doldrums to a position of comfort against Bihar on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy Elite Group C match at the Sports Hub here on Thursday.
Opting to bat, Kerala frittered away the advantage with its batters playing a series of rash strokes and slumped to 202 for eight before Nizar did the rescue act with the help of the tail-enders to help the host reach 302 for nine at stumps.
M.D. Nidheesh (30) added 79 runs for the ninth wicket with Nizar. The left-handed Nizar farmed the strike and chose the right moments to hit the big shots. Nideesh defended soundly in the early part of the stand but switched to an attacking mode as the pair frustrated the visitor. Nidheesh holed out while trying a big hit but last man Vaisakh Chandran stayed firm to allow Salman reach his milestone.
Earlier, the Bihar medium-pacers were restrictive with their consistent lines outside the off-stump and their persistence was rewarded when it drew false strokes from the batters. Opener Rohan Kunnummal (3) perished playing a loose stroke while debutant Anand Kirshnan (11) edged Gulham Rabbani to Mahrour at slips.
Left arm pacer Abhishek cleaned up Sachin Baby with an incoming delivery. Akshay Chandran (38) couldn’t convert his good start as he slashed at a wide delivery from Yashpal Yadav and was brilliantly caught at point by Ayush Loharuka.
Collapse
Nizar joined Shoun Roger and the duo added 89 runs for the fifth wicket. Nizar started off with a couple of pleasing straight drives but Roger wasn’t at his fluent best as he nudged and trudged his way to a half-century. Roger threw away his wicket, pulling a short ball from Veer Pratap to Saurabh at short mid wicket. The dismissal triggered a mini collapse as Azharuddeen (9), Jalaj Saxena (5) and Aditya Sarwate (5) fell cheaply before Nizar came to the rescue.
The scores:
Kerala — 1st innings: Akshay Chandran c Ayush b Yashpal 38, Rohan S. Kunnummal c Ayush b Vikram Singh 3, Anand Krishnan c Mahrour b Rabbani 11, Sachin Baby b Abhishek 4, Shoun Roger c Saurabh b Veer Pratap 59, Salman Nizar (batting) 111, Mohammed Azharuddeen c Gani b Sachin 9, Jalaj Saxena c Sraman b Sachin 5, Aditya Sarwate b Gani 6, M.D. Nidheesh c Veer Pratap b Vikram Singh 30, Vaisakh Chandran (batting) 1; Extras (nb-8, w-2, b-14, 1b-1): 25; Total (for nine wkts. in 84 overs): 302.
Fall of wickets: 1-8, 2-33, 3-42, 4-81, 5-170, 6-183, 7-189, 8-202, 9-281.
Bihar bowling: Veer Pratap 11-0-49-1, Vikram Singh 9-0-40-2, Abhishek 10-3-16-1, Rabbani 5-0-24-1, Gani 17-1-43-1, Sachin 26-4-80-2, Yadav 5-0-28-1, Mahrour 1-0-7-0.
Published – January 30, 2025 08:40 pm IST
