Thiruvananthapuram: After fine fifties by Vinoop Manoharan and Jalaj Saxena, hosts Kerala were 291/7 against Delhi at stumps on day one of the Ranji Trophy Elite Group B match at the St Xavier's Cricket Ground, here on Saturday.
Kerala, who won the toss and elected to bat against Delhi, lost an early wicket as opener V A Jagadeesh fell for a duck.
Top order batsman Vathsal Govind (4) also could not last long as he was caught by Anuj Rawat off Vikas Mishra's bowling.
Jagadheesh's opening partner Rahul Ponnam (77) and Sanju Samson (24) put on a 61-run stand for the third wicket before the latter was dismissed by Shivam Sharma.
Skipper Sachin Baby, who then came to bat, departed for a duck in the very over as Kerala were left reeling at 78/4. Kerala lost wicketkeeper-batsman Vishnu Vinod (24) soon as he was stumped by Anuj off Shivank Vashisth's bowling.
As wickets kept falling at one end, opener Rahul reached his second first-class fifty in a composed manner. Rahul was on a rescuing act along with Vinoop Manoharan (77 batting) when he was castled by Shivam.
All-rounder Jalaj Saxena (68), who was sent down the order from opener to No. 8, put on 136-runs for the seventh wicket with Vinoop before he was caught by Jonty Sidhu. Jalaj's wicket helped Shivam Sharma to claim his second first-class four-wicket haul.
Brief scores: Kerala 291/7 (Vinoop 77 batting, P Rahul 77; Shivam Sharma 4/78) vs Delhi
