Kerala continued its confident charge in the 2024-25 Ranji Trophy season as it secured the all-important first-innings lead in a draw against Haryana at the Chaudhary Bansi Lal Cricket Stadium in Rohtak on Saturday.
After its bowlers cleaned up the Haryana lower order inside the morning session, Kerala’s advantage was driven home by opener Rohan Kunnummal’s second fifty of the game.
Buoyed by a 252-run lead, Kerala went in for the kill, sending Haryana out to chase. Two early wickets raised hopes for a famous win, before home captain Ankit Kumar and Kapil Hooda blunted it with a solid stand.
With an outright win unfeasible for either side under fading light, the two shook hands on a draw, with the away team clearly the happier of the two.
Following its three-point haul from Lahli, Kerala asserted its second position in the Elite Group C, while also slicing down Haryana’s lead in the standings to just two points at the end of the tournament’s first phase.
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Kerala started the day on the right note as medium pacer Basi Thampi had overnight batter Nishant Sindhu caught behind in the first over.
The away team continued its excellence on the field with Basil NP pulling off a stunning diving catch after Anshul Kamboj flicked one off his pads against Thampi.
Posted at deep square leg, Basil flung himself to his right to cling onto a one-handed catch to Kamboj’s disbelief, as Kerala players erupted in joy.
With confidence surging through his veins, Basil struck the final blow by trapping Jayant Yadav in front, sealing a 127-run first-innings lead for Kerala.
Kerala shuffled its batting order in the second foray, replacing B Aparajith with skipper Sachin Baby up the order, along with Kunnummal.
The two were largely untested by a Haryana bowling unit, which looked deflated after conceding the lead.
Even first-innings 10-wicket hero Kamboj failed to make an impression as the runs trickled in for the Kerala openers without much trouble.
Sachin scored a couple of boundaries with some sweetly-timed drives on either side of the wicket as Kerala’s lead grew.
After defending his way into rhythm, Rohan found his first boundary of the day with a crisp cover drive against Jayant’s off-spin, bringing up the 50-run opening stand.
The 26-year-old Kerala batter continued to take on Haryana tweakers as he used his feet to accumulate boundaries against Jayant and left-armer Nishant Sindhu.
Kerala’s second-innings batting efforts helped the side to an unbeatable position and even briefly dream of a win.
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