Big win for Kerala against Services in Ranji Trophy. Kerala won by 204 runs. With the win, Kerala finished second in Group C with 19 points. Karnataka is on the first position with 25 points. Kerala’s next match is against Karnataka.
The star of the game is Sachin Baby who led the team from the front with a century (159) in the first innings and a half-century (93) in the second innings. All-rounder Jalaj Saxena’s eight-wicket performance on the final day on Friday crushed Services. Saxena bowled 15.4 overs and took eight wickets for 36 runs.
Kerala set a target of 341 runs ahead of Services in the second innings. At the end of the third day, Services were 20 runs without the loss of a wicket. That means they needed 321 runs to win the fourth day. In the second innings, only opener Sufian Alam did a better batting performance for Services. He scored 52 runs off 108 balls. Apart from Alam, S.G. Rohilla (28 off 55 balls), P.S. Only Poonia (18 off 19 balls) managed to cross the double digits in the services line.
Kerala ended Services’s first innings at 229 before lunch yesterday and took a lead of 98 runs. Sachin Baby (93), who scored a century in the first innings, led Kerala’s game plan with a half-century to score quickly in the second innings. Sachin got out 7 runs short of his century with 6 fours and 2 sixes in 109 balls. Vatsal Govind (48) and Salman Nisar (40) are the other top scorers for Kerala. After scoring 327 runs in the first innings, Kerala declared 242 runs for the loss of seven wickets in the second innings.
Ranji Trophy Cricket, Kerala vs Services Match Updates