Kerala wrest initiative on Day 1 as hosts fold for 201

Hyderabad: Kerala held the advantage, albeit a slender one, after they bowled hosts Hyderabad out for only 201 on the first day of their final Group ‘C’ Ranji Trophy match at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad on Monday.

Medium-pacer Sandeep Warrier was the star for the visitors with 5 for 38.
However, by stumps, Kerala were precariously placed at 45 for 3. A lot would depend on overnight batsmen Robert Fernandez (batting on 14) and captain Sachin Baby (batting on 7).

If the duo negotiate the opening hour’s play on Tuesday without incident, then Kerala stand a chance of not only taking a first innings lead, but also of stamping their authority on the match.
Put in to bat first, Hyderabad lost an early wicket When Ravi Teja was dismissed by Nizar Niyas for 23.
That triggered a collapse as the hosts lost five further wickets over the next 42 runs. Ashish Reddy and Habeeb Ahmed then steadied the rocking ship with a level-headed 78 run-stand before Ashish departed for 55.  The tail resisted briefly, adding 45 runs before folding for 201.

Whatever thoughts Kerala entertained of dominating proceedings evaporated off the seventh delivery of the innings when Ravi Kiran removed Jagadeesh. Left-armer pacer Anwar Khan then, struck twice, dismissing V.A. Jagadeesh and Rohan Prem. 

Mumbai make 373 on day one

Kozhikode: Riding on centuries by V.D. Murkar and PY Pawar, Mumbai scored 373 runs in the first innings against Kerala in their Cooch Behar Trophy under-19 cricket match at Krishnagiri Stadium in Wayanad on Monday.

One-down Murkar slammed 121 runs to give Mumbai a solid start. He teamed up with Pawar (101) to put on 120 runs for the fourth-wicket and helped the visitors past the 250-run mark.

However, the loss of the two batting stalwarts troubled Mumbai briefly.
It was Alpesh Ramjani’s 50-run knock that helped them further increase their score and Mumbai finally settled for the healthy total of 373 runs.

Kerala felt the heat of Mumbai bowling from the very start of their innings as they lost four batsmen while scoring just 16 runs. Salman Nizar (29 not out) and B. Balu did the rescue act as the hosts crawled to 81 runs for five at stumps.

Brief scores: Mumbai 373 in 142.4 overs (VD Murkar 121, PY Pawar 101) vs Kerala 81/5 in 35 overs.

Vinay and Sharath skittle Delhi

New Delhi: Staying true to form, runaway Group A table toppers, Karnataka found their bowling arsenal in spit-fire mode as the visitors blew away Delhi on the opening day of the final league encounter at the Feroz Shah Kotla on Monday.

Pegging back a delightful opening partnership between Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag, Karnataka, led brilliantly by R.Vinay Kumar (4-40), skittled Delhi for 202 in 67.4 overs and were two without loss in one over before bad light and rain forced an early closure.

With the hosts’ skipper Gambhir opting to bat first, Delhi’s vastly experienced Sehwag played in the only manner he knows racing away to 32 off just 31 deliveries as he added 54 for the opening wicket with Gambhir in just 10.2 overs. Karnataka skipper Vinay Kumar brought in Ronit More as first change and the rookie bowler struck getting rid off the dangerous Sehwag through a caught and bowled dismissal. The flamboyant opener, who has been a pale shadow of himself all through the season triggered off a stunning collapse as they lost their next five wickets for just 91 runs.

Vinay sent back No.3 batsman Milind Kumar and Mithun Manhas to set the cat amongst the pigeons before the young all-rounder cum leg-spinner Shreyas Gopal, who is fast developing the habit of getting breakthroughs, trapped Manan Sharma lbw to rock the hosts. But the big blow came when the red-hot H.S. Sharath sent back Gambhir who fell for a well-compiled 54 off 111 deliveries with six hits to the fence.

If it wasn’t for the stubborn stumper Rahul Yadav and some lusty hitting dow­n the order by Sumit Nar­wal, Delhi wouldn’t have breac­hed the 200-mark as Vinay came back to dismiss the latter for his fourth scalp.

Karnataka’s reply was hit by poor weather leaving the hosts, whose qualification for the knockouts hangs in balance, in a spot of bother. But the Karnataka batsmen will have to ensure that th­ey complement their bow­lers’ efforts on the morrow.

Scoreboard
Delhi (1st innings): Gautam Gambhir c Agarwal b Sharath 54, Virender Sehwag c & b More 32, Milind Kumar b Vinay 2, Mithun Manhas b Vinay 12, Manan Sharma lbw Gopal 23, Rajat Bhatia b Vinay 13, Rahul Yadav c Pandey b Gopal 21, Varun Sood lbw Sharath 11, Sumit Narwal lbw Vinay 22, Ashish Nehra b Sharath 5, Manoj Chauhan (not out) 0, Extras (b2, lb3, nb2) 7
Total (all out; 67.4 overs) 202
FoW: 1-51, 2-64, 3-84, 4-119, 5-136, 6-145, 7-170, 8-174, 9-198
Bowling: R Vinay Kumar 13-5-40-4, HS Sharath 19.4-5-53-3, Ronit More 12-2-33-1, Stuart Binny 7-4-14-0, Abrar Kazi 5-1-12-0, Mayank Agarw­al 1-0-9-0, Shreyas Gopal 10-3-31-2
Karnataka (1st innings): Mayank Agarwal (batting) 2, Karun Nair (ba­t­t­ing) 0 Total (for no loss, 1 over) 2
Bowling: Sumit Narwal 1-0-2-0