MP’s 9th-wicket pair survives 119 balls to deny Kerala first win this Ranji season

Madhya Pradesh's ninth-wicket pair defended bravely for nearly 20 overs to deny Kerala a maiden win in the Ranji Trophy season in Indore on Wednesday.

When M D Nidheesh removed Arshad Khan in the first ball of MP's 50th over, Kerala sensed victory. Even when skipper Mohammed Azharuddeen dropped a difficult catch, it seemed like only a matter of time. However, that time never came, as Aryan Pandey and Kumar Kartikeya stood firm, surviving 119 balls.

MP earned a point for the draw, and Kerala had to settle for three points, which could have been six had the match ended in their favour.

On a positive note for the visitors, after struggling in the first three outings, Kerala have secured lead points in consecutive matches. But with just 8 points from five games, and trailing second-placed Maharashtra by 10, it might be challenging for Kerala to reach the knockout stages and dream of another heroic final appearance.

Kerala began the day brighter as Sachin Baby and Baba Aparajith got their centuries. Kerala had not had a century across four matches, but they completed two tons in the first session. However, coach Amay Khurasiya might be wondering why he did not declare sooner.

Sachin and Aparajith resumed on 85 and 89 respectively, with Kerala sitting comfortably at 226/3. The duo batted for an hour and a half before the innings was declared at 315/5, setting MP a tough chase of 404.

The hosts went for lunch at 44/2, with debutant spinner Sreehari Nair claiming both the wickets, the second a beauty that straightened after pitching to go past Yash Dubey's defence and clip the off stump.

The left-arm spinner removed Himanshu Mantri and Harpreet Singh to claim his fourth, while MP skipper Shubham Sharma was run out by a direct hit from another debutant, Abijith Praveen. MP were on the ropes, at 78/5.

Just as when the hosts seemed to be steadying their innings, 20-year-old pacer Eden Apple Tom hit the deck hard and picked the prized wickets of Rishabh Chouhan and Saransh Jain (31), the second of which seemed like the decisive blow to MP's resistance.

The ineffectiveness of veteran spinner Ankit Sharma let down Kerala big time. The left-arm spinner, who played over 100 innings for MP before joining Kerala as a guest player this season, could not take a wicket. The only time he seemed like getting one was given not out, even though the leg before the appeal against Jain was plumb.

Brief scores: Kerala 281 & 314/5 dec in 84 overs (Sachin Baby 122 not out, Baba Aparajith 105, Abhishek J Nair 30, Saransh Jain 3/61) drew with MP 192 & 167/8 in 69 overs (Saransh Jain 31, Himanshu Mantri 26, Aryan Pandey 23 (85) not out, Kumar Kartikeya 16 (54) not out, Sreehari Nair 4/51, Eden Apple Tom 2/33)