Thiruvanathapuram: Kerala had their back to the wall at stumps on the second day of their Ranji Trophy Elite Group B match against Madhya Pradesh here on Thursday. The hosts were struugling at 38/4, still needing another 227 runs to avoid an innings defeat.
Kerala, who were shot out for 63 on the opening day, got off to a horror start in their second essay as well. The Madhya Pradesh new ball pair of Kuldeep Sen and Avesh Khan claimed two wickets apiece to leave them tottering at 8/4. Captain Sachin Baby (20 batting) and V A Jagadeesh (9 batting) took the home side to close of play without further loss. K B Arun Karthick (4), Jalaj Saxena (1), Rohan Prem (0) and night watchman Akshay Chandran (2) were back in the hut inside six overs.
Madhya Pradesh, who resumed on 161/2, were bowled out for 328, gaining a first innings lead of 265. Yash Dubey and Naman Ojha top-scored with 79 each, while Rajat Patidar made 73.
Off-spinner Saxena picked up 4/120, while pacers Sandeep Warrier and Basil Thampi scalped two each.
Brief scores: Kerala 63 and 38/4 in 12 overs (Sachin Baby 20 batting; Avesh Khan 2/10, Kuldeep Sen 2/11) vs Madhya Pradesh 328 in 119.5 overs (Yash Dubey 79, Naman Ojha 79, Rajat Patidar 73; Jalaj Saxena 4/120).
