Chennai: Skipper Baba Indrajith's 92 helped Tamil Nadu set Kerala a stiff target of 369 in their Ranji Trophy Elite Group B match at the M A Chidambaram Stadium, here on Saturday.
Kerala were 27/1 at stumps on the third and penultimate day.
Kerala lost the key wicket of opener Jalaj Saxena for 12. Opener Arun Karthick (12) and nightwatchman Sijomon Joseph (1) were at the crease.
Kerala, who resumed the day at 151/9, could only add one more to their first innings total after Sijomon (29) was trapped leg-before by left-arm spinner Rahil Shah.
Tamil Nadu were off to a solid start in their second innings as Kaushik Gandhi and Abhinav Mukund (33) put on 59. Mukund was caught by Vishnu Vinod off Saxena's bowling.
Baba Aparajith (6) fell cheaply as he was dismissed by Sandeep Warrier.
Kaushik (59) and Indrajith put on a 78-run stand for the third wicket.
Spinner Sijomon struck twice in quick succession as he removed Kaushik and Dinesh Karthik (1).
N Jagadeesan (19) too did not last long as he was caught by Vishnu off Warrier's bowling.
Sijomon dismissed a well-set Indrajith and Sharukh Khan in the same over before the home side declared their innings at 252/7.
Brief scores: Tamil Nadu 268 and 252/7 declared in 70.5 overs (Baba Indrajith 92, Kaushik Gandhi 59; Sijomon Joshph 4/51) vs Kerala 152 and 27/1 in 11 overs.
