Published: Nov 20, 2018, 05:09 PM (IST)
Edited: Nov 20, 2018, 05:09 PM (IST)
Kerala’s fast-bowling duo of Basil Thampi and MD Nidheesh shared seven wickets between them as they bowled out Bengal for 147 on Day 1 of their 2018-19 Ranji Trophy Round 3 encounter at Eden Gardens on Tuesday.
Bengal innings never got going after being asked to bat first by Kerala captain Sachin Baby. They were given an early jolt by Thampi removed their opener Koushik Ghosh for a 12-ball duck. At No. 3 Sudip Chatterjee (0) also failed to make any difference before being out caught behind off Sandeep Warrier.
Abhishek Raman and captain Manoj Tiwary led a brief recovery before being Warrier struck again to break the 46-run stand. Raman was pinned in front after hitting 40 off 79 which featured nine fours. Tiwary scored 22 before being trapped lbw by Nidheesh.
Anustup Majumdar offered lone resistance, top-scoring with 53 off 97, his second half-century of the season. Others around him crumbled with four of Bengal recording ducks.
With the wicket of Mukesh Kumar, Thampi finished with career-best bowling figures of 4/57 with the hosts being bowled out in 56.2 overs. Nidheesh also registered his career-best figures of 3/22.
In reply, Mohammed Shami gave his team an early breakthrough when he had Arun Karthik (1) out lbw in his first over of the innings. However, in-form Jalaj Saxena (14*) and Rohan Prem (14*) saw through the rest of day safely with Kerala ending on 35/1, trailing by 112 runs.
Brief Scores: Kerala 35/1 (Jalaj Saxena 14*, Rohan Prem 14*, Mohammed Shami 1/19) trail Bengal 147 (Ansutup Majumdar 53, Abhishek Raman 40; Basil Thampi 4/57) by 112 runs
