Bengal outplay sloppy Kerala

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala suffered a crushing eight-wicket defeat as they were outplayed by Bengal in a Ranji Trophy Elite Group A game at St Xavier's College Ground, Thumba here on Thursday. Kerala suffered a batting meltdown in the second innings and were bundled out for 115 after conceding a first-innings lead of 68 runs.
While the pitch was getting trickier for batting progressively, the target of 48 was at least 100 short of what the hosts would have wanted to set as Bengal eased to a win late on the third day and avenged the loss they had suffered against Kerala back home last season.
Bengal, who resumed their first innings at 236/6, did well to gain a substantial lead of 68. Shahbaz Ahmed scored a fifty (50 off 131 balls; 2x4) and aided by Arnab Nandi (29), he frustrated the Kerala bowlers as Bengal batted out almost the entire first session. Debutant Midhun S finished with respectable figures of 3/51 for the hosts.
Kerala missed an opportunity to set up a tight finish on the final day by playing callously in their second innings. They were reduced to 29/4 with the pacers Ashoke Dinda, Mukesh Kumar and Ishan Porel sharing the spoils. Sanju Samson(18), the centurion in the first innings, fell to Dinda dragging one onto to his stumps. Robin Uthappa (33) and Vishnu Vinod (33) briefly raised the hopes of a comeback with 56-run partnership for the fifth wicket.
Uthappa's wicket, a contentious LBW off Shahbaz where he seemed to have hit it, triggered another collapse as Kerala lost the last six wickets for 30 runs.
Bengal knocked off the runs in 10.5 overs. They lost Abhishek Raman and Koushik Ghosh, both to Sandeep Warrier. The all-round effort of Shahbaz who took five wickets in the match and scored a crucial fifty and the all-important century by Abhishek Raman had a big say in Bengal's win. As for Kerala, who have now drawn one and lost one in the first two fixtures, both at home, would have a lot to ponder about as they begin their away stretch.
"It was more mental than anything. They had a lead of 68 only. We should have played better in the second innings. But like good hosts, we gave them a few Christmas gifts. We can't win a game in a session but can go a long way to lose a game in a session. That's what we did there. It was all about second-innings batting and we were not equal to it (the task)," said a disappointed Kerala coach Dav Whatmore.
"Shahbaz and Arnab did a great job in the morning to get us a good lead of 68. A target of 150 would have been difficult to chase on this wicket. It was all about getting early wickets and our fast bowlers did a great job in their second innings and from then on it was about the momentum. It's good to win the first match of the season," said Bengal captain Easwaran who is leading the Ranji Trophy team for the first time.
Scoreboard:
Kerala: 1st innings: 239.
Bengal: 1st innings: (o/n: 236/6) S Ahmed c Vinod b Saxena 50, A Nandi c Rahul b Midhun 29, A Dinda run out (Baby) 1, M Kumar not out 12, I Porel b Midhun 3; Extras (b 4, lb 7) 11; Total (All out; 111.2 overs) 307.
FoW: 7/276, 8/278, 9/289, 10/307.
Bowling: Warrier 19-5-45-0, Thampi 19-3-43-2, Monish 14-0-52-2, Saxena 36-7-96-2, Midhun 18.2-0-51-3, Baby 5-0-9-0.
Kerala: 2nd innings: P Rahul b Dinda 0, J Saxena c sub (Majumdar) b Porel 1, S Samson b Dinda 18, S Baby b Kumar 9, R Uthappa lbw b Ahmed 33, V Vinod b Nandi 33, S Nizar lbw b Nandi 0, KS Monish not out 12, S Midhun b Nandi 0, B Thampi lbw b Ahmed 3, S Warrier c Nandi b Ahmed 0; Extras (b 4, lb 1, nb 1) 6; Total (All out; 39.2 overs) 115.
FoW: 1/0, 2/8, 3/26, 4/29, 5/85, 6/86, 7/100, 8/100, 9/115, 10/115.
Bowling: Dinda 8-2-26-2, Porel 10-1-33-1, Kumar 5-1-8-1, Nandi 10-4-28-3, Ahmed 6.2-1-15-3.
Bengal: 2nd innings: A Raman c Vinod b Warrier 4, A Easwaran not out 15, K Ghosh c Vinod b Warrier 19, S Chatterjee not out 5; Extras (b 4, nb 2, w 1) 7; Total (2 Wkts; 10.5 overs) 50.
FoW: 1/4, 2/25.
Bowling: Warrier 4-0-23-2, Thampi 3-1-10-0, Saxena 2-1-4-0, Monish 1.5-0-9-0.