Ranchi, Dec 13: Jharkhand spin twins Shahbaz Nadeem and Utkarsh Singh shared five wickets between them as Kerala failed to convert their strong start to be 276 for six on day one of their group C Ranji Trophy match here on Tuesday.
Left-arm spinner Nadeem took the key wickets of Sanju Samson (72) and Rohan Kunnummal (50) en route to 3/108, while off-spinner Singh ended the dogged resistance of Rohan Prem (79 off 201 balls) in his 2/43 as Jharkhand seized some late momentum going into the second day.
Promising opener Kunnummal, who recently got an India ‘A’ call-up for the Bangladesh tour, continued his fine form to slam one six and five boundaries in his 71-ball 50.
He and Rohan Prem put on a strong opening stand of 90 after electing to bat.
But Nadeem gave the breakthrough, trapping Kunnummal LBW at the score of 50, as Kerala went on to lose three wickets for the addition of eight runs on either side of lunch break.
Prem was at his resolute best but Singh cleaned him up just after the tea break. Samson took control of the proceedings after Prem’s departure in a partnership with Akshay Chandran.
But Nadeem once again triggered the collapse dismissing Samson to break their 33-run partnership. They went on to lose another quick wicket with Jalaj Saxena being run-out for zero.
Chandran (39 batting) and Joseph (28 batting) were in the middle at stumps after a 51-run unbroken partnership.
Brief Scores
At Ranchi: Kerala 276/6 in 90 overs (Rohan Prem 79, Sanju Samson 72, Rohan Kunnummal 50; Shahbaz Nadeem 3/108, Utkarsh Singh 2/43) vs Jharkhand.
At Bengaluru: Karnataka 148 for 6 in 40 overs (Nikin Jose 62; Diwesh Pathania 5/40) vs Services.
At Puducherry: Chhattisgarh 162 in 59 overs (Shahnawaz Hussain 43; Sagar Udeshi 4/36, Ankit Sharma 4/78). Puducherry 17/2 in 9 overs (Ajay Mandal 2/4).
At Porvorim: Goa 210 for 5 in 85 overs (Suyash Prabhudesai 81 not out, Snehal Kauthankar 59; Aniket Choudhary 2/37) vs Rajasthan.
In Pune: Delhi 191 in 48.2 overs (Himmat Singh 49, Yash Dhull 40, Manoj Ingale 5/43). Maharashtra 80/5 in 28.2 overs (Simarjeet Singh 2/13, Ishant Sharma 1/21) In Hyderabad: Hyderabad 256/5 (Tanmay Agarwal 116, Ravi Teja 72, Sandeep Warrier 3/52) vs Tamil Nadu In Guwahati: Assam 249/6 (Rahul Hazarika 90, Riyan Parag 76, Chetan Sakariya 2/26) vs Saurashtra.
In Vizianagaram: Andhra 238 in 74.4 overs (Shoaib Khan 84, Tanush Kotian 4/91). Mumbai 25/1.
At Nagpur: Vidarbha: 213 all out in 80.4 overs (Faiz Fazal 112, Karn Sharma 8/38) vs Railways 22 for 1 in 6.1 overs.
At Mohali: Punjab: 363 for 3 in 85 overs (Prabhsimran Singh 202, Abhishek Sharma 100; Rohit Dhanda 2/50) vs Chandigarh.
At Agartala: Gujarat: 271 all out in 75.3 overs (Priyank Panchal 111, Manisankar Murasingh 5/74) vs Tripura 1/0 in one over.
At Jammu: Madhya Pradesh: 251 for 6 in 90 overs (Yash Dubey 81, Rajat Patidar 62, Shubham Sharma 52; Auqib Nabi 3/45).
In Rohtak: Haryana 46 all out in 20.4 overs (Vaibhav Arora 4/15, Sidharth Sharma 3/12). Himachal Pradesh 246/1 (Prashant Chopra 137, Raghav Dhawan 86 batting).
In Kolkata: Uttar Pradesh 198 in 63.5 overs (Rinku Singh 79, Priyam Garg 53, Ishan Porel 5/35). Bengal 29/4 (Shivam Mavi 3.14).
In Sovima: Uttarakhand 282 in 78 overs (Kunal Chandela 92, Dikshanshu Negi 83, Akash Singh 3/45). Nagaland 9/0.
In Cuttack: Odisha 214/5 (Shantanu Mishra 61, Subhranshu Senapati 52, Lukman Meriwala 2/46) vs Baroda. (PTI)
