Maharashtra medium-pacer Rajneesh Gurbani picked up two wickets to put Kerala on the backfoot early in its innings.
| Photo Credit: NIRMAL HARINDRAN
An old scourge and an ex-teammate returned to torment Kerala on a rain-hit second day of the Ranji Trophy cricket match against Maharashtra at the Sports Hub, Greenfield stadium here on Thursday.
Rajneesh Gurbani, who blew away Kerala eight years ago in a Ranji Trophy quarterfinal match in Surat, took two quick wickets to put Kerala on the backfoot after a fine Maharashtra lower order resistance in the extended post lunch session.
Jalaj Saxena in the first over after tea took the prize wicket of opener Rohan Kunnummal (27) to leave Kerala in a spot of bother at 35 for three when rain forced play to be called off after four balls.
Only 35.5 overs of play was possible on the day that saw pre-match showers wipe out the entire first session. When play began at 12.10 p.m., the Maharashtra’s overnight batters Vicky Ostwal and Ramakrishna Ghosh negotiated the Kerala attack without any fuss. The length that the Kerala medium pacers bowled, was a trifle short to trouble the batters.
Both Ostwal and Ghosh added 59 runs for the eighth wicket. Left arm spinner Ankit Sharma got the breakthrough when he found bounce to draw an edge from Ghosh (31) which was snapped up by Azharuddeen. Nidheesh got his deserved fifth wicket when he had Gurbani (10) feathering a catch to Azharuddeen. Basil ended Ostwal’s (38) defiance by trapping him in front as Maharashtra was dismissed for 239.
Rohan Kunnummal started positively by clubbing Gurbani for two boundaries in the first over. He raced to 20 in quick time. However, Akshay Chandran struggled and he was put out of his misery by Gurbani. The pacer then took a fine return catch to dismiss B. Aparajith, who got a leaning edge while trying to play a flick. Rohan made the cardinal error of playing back to a faster ball from Jalaj Saxena and was trapped in front to leave Kerala in trouble.
The scores: Maharashtra – 1st innings: Prithvi Shaw lbw b Nidheesh 0, Arshin Kulkarni c Rohan b Basil 0, Siddhesh Veer c Azharuddeen b Nidheesh 0, Ruturaj Gaikwad lbw b Edhen 91, Ankit Bawne b Basil 0, Saurabh Nawale lbw b Nidheesh 12, Jalaj Saxena lbw b Nidheesh 49, Vicky Ostwal lbw b Basil 38, Ramakrishna Ghosh c Azharuddeen b Ankit 31 Rajneesh Gurbani c Azharuddeen b Nidheesh 10, Mukesh Choudhary not out 0; Extras (lb-2, w-6): 8; Total (in 84.1 overs): 239.
Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-0, 3-0, 4-5, 5-18, 6-140, 7-164, 8-223, 9-239.
Kerala bowling: Nidheesh 20-7-49-5, Basil 18.1-7-57-3, Edhen 11-1-41-1, Ankit 22-5-54-1, Aparajith 7-0-18-0, Akshay 6-0-18-0.
Kerala – 1st innings: Akshay Chandran lbw Gurbani 0, Rohan S. Kunnummal lbw b Jalaj 27, B. Aparajith c & b Gurbani 6, Sachin Baby (batting) 0; Extras (1b-2):2; Total (for three wkts. in 10.4 overs): 35.
Fall of wickets: 1-23, 2-35, 3-35.
Maharashtra bowling: Mukesh 5-1-13-0, Gurbani 5-0-20-2, Jalaj 0.4-0-0-1.
Published – October 16, 2025 08:33 pm IST
