Ranji Trophy: Tamil Nadu bowlers put Kerala on the mat

CHENNAI: On the second day of their Ranji Trophy clash against Kerala at Chepauk here on Friday, it was only the opening 40 minutes of play that didn't go Tamil Nadu's way. In that time, they lost their four remaining wickets for just 19 runs to fold up for 268, falling way short of the 350-run mark that M Shahrukh Khan said they would target at the end of Day 1. Shahrukh himself was left stranded on 92 as the rest of the lower-order succumbed to pacers Sandeep Warrier (5-52) and Basil Thampi (4-62).
But once Tamil Nadu took the field, they showed that their total was a sizeable one as an allround bowling effort restricted Kerala to 151 for 9 at stumps on Day 2. T Natarajan and Rahil Shah were the pick of the bowlers with three wickets each while R Sai Kishore chipped in with two. The hosts would have ideally wanted to bundle Kerala out on Friday but bad light meant that play was called off 12 minutes from the close with five overs remaining.
Be that as it may, Kerala are still 117 runs short of Tamil Nadu's score and have a mountain to climb if they are to fight back from here. With still two days left, anything less than an outright victory from here on will be a disappointment for TN. In that regard, they will want to learn from their defeat to Bengal when they had taken a 74-run first-innings lead and yet squandered the advantage.
Although the Chepauk pitch for this game has not taken the amount of turn as against Bengal last week, there is still sufficient help for all the bowlers. Natarajan led the way for TN and inflicted the first blow, knocking back the off-stump of Jalaj Saxena (4) in the fifth over with an inswinger that he has been working on during his recent injury layoffs.
After Natarajan and M Mohammed operated for the first 14 overs, left-arm spinner Rahil Shah came into the attack and found success in just his third over. He trapped KB Arun Karthick in front of the wicket for 22.
While Kerala No. 3 Rahul P (59) got going in his first match this season and stroked some fluent drives and cuts, he had no support from the rest of the middle-order, comprising Sanju Samson, Sachin Baby, VA Jagadeesh and Vishnu Vinod. Skipper B Indrajith, too, played his part at first slip, snapping up three catches in the innings including a stunning effort off a cut shot from Vinod. Sai Kishore, who had sent back the well-set Rahul only an over earlier, was the beneficiary of Indrajith's brilliance on that occasion.
The only mild cause of frustration for TN was the resistance that Akshay Chandran and Sijomon Joseph (28 not out) showed late in the day. While they put together only 27 runs for the eighth wicket, the left-arm spin duo occupied the crease for 13.2 overs. Even after Akshay departed, Joseph stayed firm and saw them through to the end of the day.
Scoreboard: Tamil Nadu (1st innings, overnight 249/6 in 90 overs): M Shahrukh Khan not out 92, M Mohammed c Vinod b Warrier 29, R Sai Kishore c Vinod b Warrier 5, R Shah c Arun Karthick b Thampi 0, T Natarajan b Thampi 0; Extras (nb-1, b-4, lb-6): 11; Total (all out in 98 overs): 268; FoW: 7-253, 8-267, 9-268; Bowling: Warrier 25-7-52-5, Thampi 19-4-62-4, Akshay Chandran 13-2-30-0, Saxena 25-1-77-1, Joseph 16-1-37-0
Kerala (1st innings): KB Arun Karthick lbw b Rahil 22, J Saxena b Natarajan 4, P Rahul lbw b Sai Kishore 59, S Samson b Natarajan 9, S Baby c Indrajith b Rahil 1, VA Jagadeesh c Shahrukh b Rahil 8, Vishnu Vinod c Indrajith b Sai Kishore 0, Akshay Chandran c Indrajith b Aparajith 14, S Joseph batting 28, B Thampi c Dinesh Karthik b Natarajan 2, S Warrier batting 0; Extras (w-2, b-1, lb-1): 4; Total (for 9 wkts in 75 overs): 151; FoW: 1-11, 2-46, 3-71, 4-85, 5-97, 6-103, 7-111, 8-138, 9-141; Bowling: Natarajan 20-6-42-3, Mohammed 14-4-29-0, Rahil 19-9-32-3, Kaushik Gandhi 4-1-16-0, R Sai Kishore 13-5-22-2, Aparajith 5-0-8-1