Kerala seeks full points vs Tripura ?

Kochi: For the past two Ranji Trophy matches, opener Nikhilesh Surendran, Sanju V. Samson and Robert Fernandez formed the crux of Kerala batting.

Kerala will be banking on this strong line-up in their second home match too as they are all set to take on Tripura in the Group 'C' game beginning at Thalassery on Thursday.

While there are several reasons for the hosts to cheer about after clinching three points each against Andhra and Assam, Tripura are already in deep trouble as they have lost the two matches they have played so far.

However, Kerala captain Sachin Baby has a different take. “We are not considering them as minnows. We cannot underestimate any team.“

“The wicket seems flat and it was very hard for our bowlers in the last game to take advantage. But they rose to the occasion and applied a great deal of pressure to help us take the lead. So right now, I think our team is in a comfortable position, with every player contributing perfectly. Needless to say, we will be pressing for an outright win,“ he said.

While pacer Prasanth Parameswaran performed admirably to put Assam batsmen under pressure in the last game, it was the spin duo of Vinoop Manoharan and C.P Shahid who claimed most of the wickets.