Ranji Trophy: Sachin Baby hits century to put Kerala in driver's seat against Delhi

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Captain Sachin Baby scored his sixth first-class century to firm Kerala's grip on their Ranji Trophy opener against Delhi at St Xavier's College Ground, Thumba here on Tuesday. Sachin hit 155 (274 balls; 13x4) as Kerala declared on 525/9, their highest Ranji total in 12 years.
In the 2006-07 season, Kerala posted 566/6 against Services and after that the closest they came to that total was the 518/5, also against Services, in the 2016-17 season.
The hosts reduced Delhi to 23/2 by close on day two to be in a dictating position on a surface that has started to turn. The two best bets with the bat, captain Dhruv Shorey (6) and Nitish Rana (0), are at the crease for Delhi. Kunal Chandela (1) and Anuj Rawat (15) were the batsmen dismissed. Delhi would need to score at least 375 to avoid follow-on.
Salman Nizar gave Sachin good company with 77 (144 balls; 9x4, 2x6) as Kerala motored along at a steady rate without much trouble for most of the day. After Robin Uthappa's century and Rahul P's 97, Kerala had finished day one at a strong position of 276/3. On resumption, they lost Vishnu Vinod (5) very early in the piece, bowled by off-spinner Shivam Sharma.
Sachin, who has been the most consistent batsman for Kerala of late, played a patient knock and chose his shots judicially. He formed a 156-run partnership for the sixth wicket with Nizar which deflated Delhi who would have entertained thoughts of bundling out Kerala after dismissing Mohammed Azharuddeen for 15. Kerala were 310/5 at that point.
For Delhi, debutant leg-spinner Tejas Baroka took 3/128 while Shivam (2/112) and Lalit Yadav (2/47) took two wickets each. Their pacers were completely neutralized by the lack of carry on a sedate surface.
"Very happy with the innings. I planned to hold one end up and got to stitch a good partnership with Salman. Some balls were jumping from a length off the spinners. So my idea was to play the sweep shot against their left-arm spinners. They were not attacking much with their field placings and I managed to play the ball into the gaps and take singles and doubles. I did not have to attempt to go over the 30-yard circle," said Sachin.
Sachin had got a century in the Vijay Hazare Trophy and was the leading run-getter for Kerala in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20s. "In any format, you have to just change your mindset. In this match, I was making sure my shape was correct while facing the ball and perfect my defence," added Sachin who expressed hopes of an innings-win.
"We expected a bit more help for the spinners from the wicket. Now our aim is to deny them a win," said Baroka who bowled 30 overs on his debut for a creditable three-wicket haul.
Scoreboard:
Kerala: 1st Innings: (o/n: 276/3) S Baby b Yadav 155, V Vinod b Sharma 5, M Azharuddeen c Rawat b Baroka 15, S Nizar c Mishra b Baroka 77, KS Monish b Sharma 9, S Joseph not out 14, S Warrier c Rawat b Yadav 0, KM Asif not out 7; Extras 12 (b 5, lb 2, nb 5); Total (9 Wkts; 165 overs) 525 decl.
FoW: 4/281, 5/310, 6/466, 7/497, 8/505, 9/507.
Bowling: Sangwan 14-4-38-1, Saini 17-3-64-0, Mishra 34-4-107-1, Sharma 34-5-112-2, Baroka 30-0-128-3, Rana 15-3-22-0, Yadav 21-3-47-2.
Delhi:1st innings: A Rawat b Saxena 15, K Chandela c Azharuddeen b Warrier 1, D Shorey batting 6, N Rana batting 0; Extras 1 (lb 1); Total (2 Wkts; 13 overs) 23.
FoW: 1/ 15, 2/17;
Bowling: Warrier 5-2-9-1, Asif 4-2-6-0, Saxena 3-0-7-1, Monish 1-1-0-0.