Ranji Trophy 2024-25: Kamboj in record books with ‘perfect 10’ against Kerala but Haryana batters fail to capitalise

Kamboj became only the sixth Indian bowler to take a ‘perfect 10’ in First-Class cricket, following Subhash Gupte, Premansu Chatterjee, Pradeep Sunderam, Anil Kumble and Debasis Mohanty.

Anshul Kamboj kept his date with history as he wrapped up Kerala’s innings inside the opening hour to complete his 10-wicket haul.  | Photo Credit: Kamal Sharma

Friday began in jubilations for Haryana after its pacer Anshul Kamboj became the third bowler to take 10 wickets in a Ranji Trophy innings during its Elite Group C home match against Kerala. 

But at Stumps on day three here at the Chaudhary Bansi Lal Cricket Stadium, it was the away side which returned in a joyous mood after it reduced Haryana to 139 for seven in response to Kerala’s first-innings total of 291. 

Kerala’s pacers took a leaf out of Kamboj’s book as they bowled with heart, extracting the best out of a Lahli surface progressively getting slower to put their side in control. 

The determination from the Kerala bowlers was backed in no small measure by their fielders, who dived and scrapped to cut down Haryana’s run flow. The pick of the lot was Salman Nizar, who was a livewire at short cover and mid-wicket. 

Earlier in the day, Kamboj kept his date with history as he wrapped up Kerala’s innings inside the opening hour to complete his 10-wicket haul. The Haryana pacer first disturbed Basil Thampi’s stumps before finding Shoun Roger’s outside edge for a caught-behind dismissal. 

Thus, Kamboj became only the sixth Indian bowler to take a ‘perfect 10’ in First-Class cricket, following Subhash Gupte (1954), Premansu Chatterjee (1956), Pradeep Sunderam (1985), Anil Kumble (1999) and Debasis Mohanty (2001). 

AS IT HAPPENED: Ranji Trophy Highlights, Day 3 Round 5

Kamboj’s efforts were followed up by a strong start from the Haryana openers, Yuvraj Singh and Lakshya Dalal. The two scored some effortless boundaries to put Kerala’s bowling unit under some early pressure. 

Kerala responded through medium pacer Basil NP, who had Yuvraj caught at gully with one that reared off the surface. 

Soon, Basil Thampi struck from the other end to send back Lakshya with a delivery that kept low. The ball ricocheted off the pads and onto the stumps. 

Just when Haryana thought it had stabilised things through skipper Ankit Kumar and Himanshu Rana, calamity struck in the form of a run out. The two batters were stranded in the middle of the pitch while attempting a risky single, allowing Salman to flick the bails at the striker’s end. 

Nidheesh MD joined the action with an outswinger, which evaded Dheeru Singh’s bat to crash onto the stumps. The Kerala pacer then accounted for Ankit, who pulled a back-of-a-length delivery straight to Roger at short mid-wicket. 

Haryana managed to curb Kerala’s surge after Tea, thanks to a defiant partnership between Nishant Sindhu and Kapil Hooda. 

The pair played out 24 overs, adding just 30 runs before Jalaj Saxena became the first spinner to take a wicket in this game, trapping Kapil in front. 

A returning Nidheesh snared new batter, Sumit Kumar, right before the end of the day’s play to put Kerala just three wickets away from claiming a vital first-innings lead against Haryana.