Jaipur: Deepak Hooda smashed his second hundred of the match to put Rajasthan on top on the third day of their Ranji Trophy Elite Group C match against Kerala here on Thursday.
Rajasthan ended the penultimate day on 278/5, an overall lead of 309.
Off-spinner Jalaj Saxena had Rajasthan in a spot as he picked up the first three wickets. However, opener Abhijeet Tomar (68) and captain Ashok Menaria (19) steadied the ship with a 45-run stand for the fourth wicket.
Tomar and Hooda (106 batting) added 73 for the fifth wicket.
Hooda, who made 133 in the first innings, has so far put on 111 for the sixth wicket along with wicketkeeper K S Rathore (48 batting).
Hooda, who scored his 11th first-class ton, hit six fours and three sixes in his 122-ball knock.
Earlier, Kerala conceded a first innings lead of 31 despite a fighting unbeaten 139 by Sachin Baby.
Resuming on 268/8, Sachin added 38 runs for the last two wickets to take Kerala to 306. The left-hander contributed 30 runs on the third morning.
Sachin's 217-ball knock contained 18 hits to the fence.
Left-arm pacer Aniket Choudhary dismissed both Fanoos F (0) and M D Nidheesh (4) to complete his 13th fifth-wicket haul at the first-class level.
Brief scores: Rajasthan 337 and 278/5 in 76 overs (Deepak Hooda 106 batting, Abhijeet Tomar 68, K S Rathore 48 batting; Jalaj Saxena 3/79 vs Kerala 306 in 82.5 overs (Sachin Baby 139 not out, Sanju Samson 82; Aniket Choudhary 5/85, Manav Suthar 3/87).
