Raipur: Mohammed Azharuddeen's breezy 85 and pacer M D Nidheesh's twin strikes put Kerala in control on the second day of their Ranji Trophy Elite Group B match against Chhattisgarh here on Saturday. The hosts were struggling at 100/4 in reply to Kerala's first innings total of 350 at close of play.
Sanjeet Desai was carrying the home side's hopes with an unbeaten 50. Desai put on 75 runs for the third wicket along with Ashutosh Singh (31) after the early loss of the openers. Nidheesh trapped Ashutosh in front of the wicket and then sent back captain Amandeep Khare in an identical fashion for a duck to tilt the balance in favour of the visitors.
Resuming on 219/4, Kerala lost captain Sanju Samson to Ashish Chouhan for his overnight score of 57 in the opening over of the day. Sanju's 72-ball innings was studded with nine fours.
Azhar, playing his first-class match in nearly four years, joined Vishnu Vinod in the middle and the two strokeplayers added 80 for the sixth wicket. Vishnu made 40 off 86 balls before being castled by Chouhan.
The medium-pacer dismissed Shreyas Gopal for five to claim his fifth wicket.
Azhar hit 12 fours and a couple of sixes in his 104-ball innings. He was the ninth wicket to fall with the total on 350.
Brief scores: Kerala 350 in 110.1 overs (Sachin Baby 91, Mohammed Azharuddeen 85, Sanju Samson 57, Rohan Prem 54, Vishnu Vinod 40; Ashish Chouhan 5/100) vs Chhattisgarh 100/4 in 44 overs (Sanjeet Desai 50 batting; M D Nidheesh 2/19).
