A calm and dutiful accumulation by captain Sachin Baby (83) and Salman Nizar (74 batting) and their 99-run sixth wicket partnership put Kerala in control of the Ranji Trophy Elite Group C match against Uttar Pradesh at the KCA-St.Xavier’s College ground here on Thursday.
The host recovered from 105 for four to reach 340 for seven at Stumps on the second day through gritty lower-order batting. Captain Baby showed enough pluck and resilience to hold the innings together after Uttar Pradesh’s left-arm spinner Shivam Sharma struck twin blows to dismiss overnight batters Baba Aparajith (32) and Aditya Sarwate (14) in the first hour.
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Baby and Akshay Chandran (24) figured in a 63-run stand for the fifth wicket to steady the innings. After Akshay fell to Saurabh Kumar, Baby found an ideal ally in Salman Nizar, who curbed his natural flamboyance, to play the waiting game against Uttar Pradesh’s spinners.
Batting was still a challenge on the track on which the odd ball scooted and some bounced unevenly. Baby and Nizar showed the temperament and technique to smother the spin. Baby used the depth of the crease to carve the ball through the on-side while occasionally stepping out to loft the ball over the in-field to score runs.
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The duo showed the loose balls no mercy and didn’t lose any opportunity to steal singles as they rotated the strike to frustrate the bowlers.
Shivam Mavi broke the threatening stand when he trapped Baby in front in the final over before Tea. Jalaj Saxena (35) survived a nervous start and played fluently thereafter against the spinners to add 59 runs for the seventh wicket with Salman.
Leg-spinner Piyush Chawla ended Jalaj’s stay in the middle but Mohammed Azharuddeen (11 batting) came in and struck a six and four off Chawla to signal what was in store for the bowlers on Friday.
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