Kerala vs Bengal: Ranji Trophy match heading for draw

By Sreejith CR | First Published Oct 29, 2024, 3:45 PM IST

Bengal lost the wickets of Sudeep Chatterjee (57) and Shuvam Dey (67).

The Kerala-Bengal Ranji Trophy match is heading towards a draw. In the first innings, Kerala declared at 356/9. Salman Nizar remained unbeaten on 95. Mohammed Azharuddeen (84) and Jalaj Saxena (84) put in crucial performances. Ishan Porel took six wickets for Bengal. In response Bengal had reached 132/2 at the time of reporting. Bengal will try to avoid getting all out on the final day. Both teams will be fighting for the first-innings lead which carries points. Five sessions of the match was lost due to rain.

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Bengal lost the wickets of Sudip Chatterjee (57) and Shuvam Dey (67) to Jalaj Saxena and Aditya Sarwate respectively. Avilin Ghosh (4) and Sudeep Kumar Gharami (8) are at the crease. Kerala started the final day at 267/7. The Salman-Azharuddeen partnership added 121 runs. Azhar, who batted in one-day style, missed out on a century. He faced 97 balls, hitting two sixes and 11 fours. Nitish (0), who came next, departed quickly. Following this, Kerala decided to declare. Salman's innings included one six and eight fours.

Earlier, the Jalaj Saxena-Salman Nizar partnership rescued Kerala from a precarious 83/6. The duo added 140 runs. However, Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal gave Bengal a breakthrough by dismissing Saxena for 84. Kerala, who were 117/6 at lunch, crossed 200 in the second session without losing a wicket. But Saxena's dismissal was a setback. He faced 162 balls and hit 12 boundaries.

Kerala, who started the third day at 51/4, had hopes pinned on captain Sachin Baby. Kerala were shocked when Porel bowled Sachin (12) with the score at 78. Soon after, Porel had Akshay Chandran (31) caught behind, leaving Kerala reeling at 83/6. However, Jalaj Saxena, along with Salman Nizar, put up a fight and took Kerala past 200 without further losses.

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