Jamshedpur/Wayanad: Kerala eye first win of the season after skipper Rohan Prem scored a century to set Chhattisgarh a target of 328 runs on the penultimate day of their Ranji Trophy Group-C match in Jamshedpur on Saturday.
Chhattisgarh ended the day on 15 for 0 after Kerala declared their second innings at 307 for 2. Rohan and his deputy Sachin Baby shared an unbeaten third-wicket partnership of 125 runs and the latter made 70 off 86 balls. Opener V.A. Jagadeesh had scored 45 runs before retiring hurt while Bhavin Thakkar scored 37.
Earlier in the day, Kerala had limited Chhattisgarh for 187 to take a 20-run lead. K. Monish finished with four wickets while Iqbal Abdulla bagged 3 for 26.
Meanwhile at the Krishnagiri Stadium in Wayanad, opener Sanjay Ramaswamy struck his maiden first-class century as Vidarbha produced an improved batting effort to pile up 315 for three in their second innings against Jharkhand in a Group-B match.
Ramaswamy made 102 off 203 balls with the help of 17 boundaries, while skipper Faiz Fazal hit 59 off 66 balls to stitch 93 runs for the opening stand after resuming at the overnight score of 49 for no loss.
Besides the duo, Gamesh Satish made 44 while Aditya Shanware (54 not out) and Ravi Jangid (50 not out) remained unbeaten at stumps on the third and penultimate day of the match. Vidarbha now lead Jharkhand by just 58 runs with just a day's play remaining.
Brief Scores: Kerala 207 & 307/2 dec. in 74 overs (Rohan Prem 123 n.o., Sachin Baby 70 n.o., V.A. Jagadeesh 45) vs Chhattisgarh 187 & 15/0 in 11 overs; Vidarbha: 105 & 315/3 in 96 overs (Sanjay Ramaswamy 102; Ashish Kumar 1/56) vs Jharkhand: 362/8 dec. in 122.5 overs (Ishank Jaggi 112 not out; Akshay Karnewar 2/45)
