Rajkot: Sijomon Joseph's all-round show powered Kerala past Chhattisgarh by five wickets in the Vijay Hazare Trophy here on Sunday.
Sijomon picked up five wickets with his left-arm spin bowling as Chhattisgarh were bowled out for 189. Later, the southpaw scored 27 and added 42 for the fifth wicket in the company of Vinoop Manoharan after Kerala lost four quick wickets to slip to 89/4 from 82 for no loss.
Vinoop (54 not out) and Vishnu Vinod (26 not out) guided Kerala home in the 35th over.
Openers Mohammed Azhruddeen (45) and Rohan Kunnummal (36) too shone. Captain Sanju Samson fell for a golden duck.
Their third win from four matches has boosted Kerala's hopes of qualifying for the knockout phase.
Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra are tied with 12 points with one round to go in Elite Group D. Kerala top the group on net run rate followed by MP and Maharashtra.
Kerala meet Uttarakhand in their final fixture on Tuesday.
Earlier, Sijomon's five-wicket haul helped Kerala bowl out Chhattisgarh for 189.
Sijomon wrecked the Chhattisgarh middle order as they slipped from 123/3 to 133/6.
Captain Harpreet Singh Bhatia scored a fine 98 after electing to bat. His knock was laced with 11 fours and a six off 128 balls.
Opener Sanjeet Desai made 32 before being stumped by Sanju Samson off medium-pacer M D Nidheesh's bowling.
Sanjeet and Harpreet added 93 for the second wicket and thereafter it was the Sijomon show.
Brief scores: Chhattisgarh 189 in 46.2 overs (Harpreet Singh Bhatia 98; Sijomon Joseph 5/33, M D Nidheesh 2/21, Basil Thampi 2/38) lost to Kerala 193/5 in 34.3 overs (Vinoop Manoharan 54 not out, Mohammed Azharuddeen 45).
Points: Kerala 4; Chhattisgarh 0.
