Thiruvananthapuram: In the third match of the Ranji Trophy season, Kerala continued to dominate on the second day against Chhattisgarh. Kerala had bowled out Chhattisgarh for 149 runs in the first innings and took a decisive lead of 162 runs. At the end of the second day’s play, Chhattisgarh is on the verge of collapse again with the loss of 10 runs for the loss of two wickets. Rishabh Tiwari (0) and Sanidhya Harkat (0) are the out players. Captain Harpreet Singh Bhatia (3*) and Amandeep Khare (7*) are at the crease.
Kerala, who started batting on the second day with 100 runs after losing two wickets, managed to add 211 runs. The innings of Rohan Prem and Sachin Baby, who scored a half-century, gave Kerala the best score in the first innings. Rohan scored 77 runs off 157 balls including seven boundaries. Sachin faced 171 balls and was run out after scoring 77 runs including a six and six boundaries. Both of them put on a partnership of 123 runs for the third wicket. Captain Sanju Samson who scored 46 runs including three sixes and a four from 54 balls also shone. The openers P. Rahul (24) and Rohan Kunnummal (31) are the other major scorers.
Sumit Ruikar took three wickets for Chhattisgarh. The performance of Jalaj Saxena, who earlier took five wickets for 48 runs, helped Kerala to limit the Chhattisgarh innings to 149.
Record Rohan
Kerala’s own Rohan Prem has crossed the milestone of 5000 runs in first class cricket. Rohan played the most matches for Kerala in the Ranji Trophy and scored the most runs and scored a century for the team. Rohan is also the first batsman to score 1000 runs for Kerala in Twenty20. Rohan also has the distinction of having played for Kerala in all categories from Under-13 onwards, scored a century and led the team.
Rohan, who played for Kerala in the Ranji at the age of 19, batted in 90 matches in 17 years. KN, who played 88 matches when he took the field against Rajasthan in the last match. Rohan surpassed Ananthapadmanabhan’s record. He scored half-centuries in both innings against Jharkhand in the first match of the season. He crossed the milestone of 5000 runs when he scored eight runs against Chhattisgarh at St. Xavier’s ground on Tuesday. Rohan made his debut in December 2005 at the age of 19. The current coach of the Kerala team is Tinu Yohannan, who played with him then. One of Kerala’s best batsmen, Rohan has worn the Kerala jersey with three generations. He has played with current Indian captain Rohit Sharma in the U-19 national team.