Hemanth completes century, TN gains first innings lead

By Our Special Correspondent

KOCHI, DEC. 2. It was a disappointing end to Kerala's campaign in the South Zone Ranji Trophy league as its final encounter against Tamil Nadu concluded as a tame draw at the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium here on Saturday. Tamil Nadu gained five points after taking the first innings lead and finished second in the six-team affair with 26 points, while Kerala could only manage the fourth spot with 21 points.

With the result almost a foregone conclusion by Friday evening itself, the proceedings today expectedly remained dull before the match was called off when the Kerala skipper, K.N. Ananthapadmanabhan applied the closure to his team's second essay in the sixth mandatory over. Kerala, at draw of stumps, was 157 for six with opener M.P. Sorab top-scoring with 61.

Earlier, Tamil Nadu duly gained the lead after resuming at 205 for four but made little impact but for the century scored by debutant C. Hemanth Kumar (101, 313b, 5x4). However, with wickets falling at regular intervals, the former champion could only total 251 for nine in its first innings that lasted exactly 100 minutes and 19.2 overs this morning.

The scores:

Kerala - 1st innings: 206.

Tamil Nadu - 1st innings: Rajat Bhatia c & b Tinu 6; S. Badrinath c Kamaruddin b Tinu 15; C. Hemanth Kumar c Kamaruddin b Prasanth 101; J.R. Madanagopal c Kamaruddin b Prasanth 84; Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan c Kamaruddin b Prasanth 5; Rueben Paul c (sub) Prasanth Chandra b Prasanth 7; S. Mahesh c Oasis b Sreekumar 10; Robin Singh c Suresh Kumar b Sreekumar 3; Aashish Kapoor c Kudua b Sreekumar 5; W.D. Balaji Rao (not out) 1. Extras (b-1, lb-3, w- 2, nb-9) 15. Total (for nine wickets decl.) 251.

Fall of wickets: 1-22, 2-25, 3-193, 4- 205, 5-221, 6-238, 7-242, 8-245, 9-251.

Kerala bowling: Tinu 24-10-51-2; Oasis 2-2-0-0; Sreekumar 26.4-7- 47-3; Suresh Kumar 18-0-44-0; Ananthapadmanabhan 20-7-31-0; Ramprakash 14-0-30-0; Prasanth 14-0-44-4.

Kerala - 2nd innings: Varun Girilal b Rajat 6; M.P. Sorab c Balaji b Vidyut 61; Prasanth C. Menon c (sub) Vasanth b Balaji 21; D. Sreekumar c Hemanth b Balaji 5; Ajay N. Kudua c Rueben b Balaji 46; V. Kamaruddin c Robin b Balaji 4; Tinu Yohannan (not out) 0. Extras (b-4, w-2, nb-18) 24. Total (for six wickets decl.) 167.

Fall of wickets: 1-12, 2-65, 3-73, 4- 163, 5-167, 6-167.

Tamil Nadu bowling: Robin 5-1-9-0; Mahesh 9-3-11-0; Rajat 10-4-18-1; Balaji 18-3-60-4; Vidyut 10.2-1-29-1; Aashish 7-2-36- 0.

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