Kerala fights back to force a draw

By Our Sports Reporter

KOCHI, NOV. 27. As the day wore on, for a brief while, the hunter became the hunted. Struggling at 131 for seven overnight, Kerala fought back splendidly to force a draw against Andhra in the Ranji Trophy South Zone cricket league four-dayer which concluded at the Nehru Stadium here on Tuesday.

A brilliant 111-run, eighth-wicket stand between former captain K. N. Ananthapadmanabhan (74 not out, 161b, 10x4) and Sreekumar Nair (83, 279b, 8x4, 1x6) not only helped Kerala avoid a humiliating defeat, but offered the host the luxury of attempting a victory. But in the end, after the eighth mandatory over, the two captains - Andhra's M.S.K.Prasad and Kerala's Sunil Oasis - shook hands and signed the peace treaty. Andhra finished with five points for the first innings lead, while Kerala took three.

The action-packed day nearly buried the superb performance of debutant off-spinner, Andhra's Mohammed Faiq, who grabbed five second innings scalps for a match haul of ten wickets.

``We should have attacked from the word go but I think we relaxed a bit in the first half hour today. And that helped Kerala slip away,'' said Andhra coach, former India star Abid Ali.

Clearly, the morning was the key to the match, for while Sreekumar Nair dropped anchor, Ananthan raised the tempo with some lovely boundaries. And after making 259 for eight, Kerala bravely declared its second innings an hour after lunch, setting the visitor a target of 177 for victory (in 38 overs).

Andhra appeared ready for the challenge early, but when it lost openers, star batsman Amit Pathak and L.N.Prasad Reddy in quick succession, it turned defensive and settled for the draw.

Kerala next plays Hyderabad in Kochi, while Andhra hosts Goa. Both the matches begin on December 2.

The scores:

Kerala - 1st innings: 176.

Andhra - 1st innings: 259.

Kerala - 2nd innings: M. P. Sorab b Shahabuddin 8, P. Shashikanth lbw Mohammed Faiq 2, B. Ramprakash b Faiq 12, Sunil Oasis b Madhukar 11, Ajay Kudua c & b Faiq 6, Sreekumar Nair lbw Faiq 83, Prasanth Menon b Faiq 1, C. Sanju hit-wicket b Vatekar 12, K. N. Ananthapadmanabhan (not out) 74, M. Suresh Kumar (not out) 25, Extras (b-2, lb-5, nb-15, w-3) 25, Total (for eight wkts. decl. in 116 overs) 259.

Fall of wickets: 1-11, 2-31, 3-31, 4-38, 5-67, 6-80, 7-112, 8- 223.

Andhra bowling: N. Madhukar 19-4-36-1, K. Shahabuddin 21-5-40-1, Mohammed Faiq 35-12-90-5, H. Vatekar 25-8-44-1, K. A. Fayaz Ahmed 2-0-6-0, R.V.Ch. Prasad 5-0-20-0, I. Srinivas 5-1-10-0, Amit Pathak 4-0-6-0.

Andhra - 2nd innings: L. N. Prasad Reddy lbw Sreekumar Nair 10, Amit Pathak c Sorab b Suresh Kumar 18, M. S. K. Prasad (not out) 9, Y. Venugopal Rao (not out) 37, Extras (lb-1, nb-3) 4, Total (for two wkts. in 31 overs) 78.

Fall of wickets: 1-18, 2-31.

Kerala bowling: Sunil Oasis 2-0-10-0, M. Suresh Kumar 12-2-33-1, Sreekumar Nair 11-4-11-1, B. Ramprakash 4-0-17-0, K. N. Ananthapadmanabhan 2-0-6-0.

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