Ranji Trophy 2024-25: Kerala thumps Bihar by innings and 165 runs to seal quarterfinals spot
Ranji Trophy 2024-25: Kerala thumps Bihar by innings and 165 runs to seal quarterfinals spot
Kerala sealed a place in the Ranji Trophy knockouts with a resounding win, by an innings and 165 runs, over Bihar at the Sports Hub here on Friday.
The win with a bonus point took Kerala’s tally to 28 points and it is momentarily perched at top of Group C. Bihar capitulated embarrassingly on a wicket which was still pretty good for batting.
The visitor’s first innings lasted a mere 23.1 overs with the last nine wickets falling for just 23 runs. Jalaj Saxena (5/19) was the standout bowler for Kerala in the first innings. There was slow turn for the spinners and the odd ball kept low but it was exacerbated by the lack of application and poor stroke selection of the Bihar batters.
There was no inkling of the collapse when Smaran Nigarodh (21) and Ayush Lokarukha (13) used the sweep shot effectively against spinners. However, the shot brought the downfall of Ayush who was caught by Jalaj at deep square leg fence off Sarwate. Ayush’s dismissal started a steady procession which ended with the comical run out of Abhishek (1).
Kerala enforced the follow on and inept batting continued from Bihar. Mahrour (5) edged a straighter ball from Vaiskah Chandran to Sachin Baby at first slip. Smaran (15) gave Jalaj the charge and was stumped by Azharudden. M.D. Nidheesh cleaned up Ayush (9) with an incoming delivery. Jalaj joined the party by coaxing Bipin Saurabh (9) to mishit a shot to Anand Krishnan at covers. Saurabh Gani (31) and captain Veer Pratap Singh (30) led a brief fight back and figured in a 45-run stand for the sixth wicket. But the pair left in quick succession and Jalaj picked up his second five-wicket haul (5/34) to bundle out Bihar for 118 in the second innings.
Earlier in the morning, Salman Nizar and Vaisakh Chandran extended their last wicket partnership to 70 runs. While Vaisakh blocked, Salman Nizar clubbed the bowlers to race to 150 and enabled Kerala to cross 350 runs. Guhlam Rabbani finally dismissed Salman, who edged a catch to wicketkeeper Sraman, to end his team’s agony.
