Thalassery: Kerala spinners squeezed the life out of Himachal Pradesh’s batting line-up to tilt the match in favour of the home side, as the visitors were struggling at 110 for 7, chasing a target of 195 runs in the Ranji Trophy Group ‘C’ match here on Saturday.
On an action-packed second day, Kerala spinner P. Prasanth hogged the limelight with a seven-wicket haul when a total of 22 wickets tumbled. A dramatic 39th over from P. Prasanth, in which he scalped three wickets, proved crucial as Himachal Pradesh folded for 174 runs in their first innings, gifting a 40-run lead to Kerala.
They were able to add only 10 runs to their overnight total and lost five wickets in the process.
On a wicket that gave ample turn for the spinners, Kerala batsmen, in reply, managed to score 155 runs in the second innings and post a target of 195. At stumps, Himachal Pradesh lost seven wickets while taking 110 runs.
P. Prasanth ended the hopes of the visitors taking the advantage as he started the 39th over by bowling out overnight batsman Vishal Bhatia.
Off the second delivery, Ankush Bains was sent back and newcomer V.S Malik successfully defended the third delivery to deny Prasanth a hat-trick. But off the very next ball, he was trapped lbw by the southpaw to leave the Group ‘C’ leaders struggling at 169 for 9.
Prasanth recorded his career’s best figures of 7/54, and helped Kerala take the lead when he sent back captain Rishi Dhawan in his next over.
Kerala started confidently as debutant Sachin Mohan and the experienced V.A Jagadeesh built a 38-run opening partnership.
However, Kerala batsmen failed once again, as they soon plummeted to 85 for 7 before lunch. It was Kerala captain Sachin Baby’s impressive 43 that helped Kerala cross the 100-run mark. For the visitors, spinner Bipul Sharma was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 4/32.
With the wicket deteriorating rapidly, Kerala spinners Vinoop Manoharan (4/35) and C.P. Shahid (3/27) pressed hard as Himachal Pradesh batsmen failed once again to cope with the pressure and turn.
The visitors hopes will be resting on their skipper Rishi Dhawan (38 not out) as he and V .S. Malik will be resuming the play on Sunday .
BRIEF SCORES: Kerala 214 in 56.1 overs (V.A. Jagadeesh 56, Vinoop Manoharan 71, Vishal Bhatia 5/63) & 155 in 44.3 overs (Sachin Baby 43, Bipul Sharma 4/32) vs Himachal Pradesh 174 in 41 overs (Bipul Sharma 53, Bali 41, P. Prasanth 7/54) & 110/7.
