Raipur: Sachin Baby continued his fine run as Kerala fought back to reach 219/4 on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy Elite Group B match against Chhattisgarh here on Friday.
Kerala lost openers Rohan Kunnummal and Jalaj Saxena for ducks and slumped to 4/2 after being put in to bat. Sachin and another veteran batter Rohan Prem staged a recovery as the two added 135 for the third wicket.
Rohan was run out for 54. The left-hander hit eight fours in his 144-ball knock. Sachin put on 48 with captain Sanju Samson for the fourth wicket. The southpaw was dismissed by Ashish Chouhan when he was looking good for his 13th first-class ton. The 35-year-old's 180-ball innings was laced with 11 fours.
Sanju (57 batting) and Vishnu Vinod (10 batting) were at the crease. Sanju has so far smashed nine fours in his 71-ball stint.
Bad light meant only 74 overs were possible on the day.
Chhattisgarh are in fourth place with 11 points from four matches. Kerala are in sixth spot with just five points from four games in the eight-team group.
Brief scores: Kerala 219/4 in 74 overs (Sachin Baby 91, Sanju Samson 57 batting, Rohan Prem 54; Ashish Chouhan 2/47) vs Chhattisgarh.
