The pitch turned out to be perfect ally for the batters on the final day and foiled Kerala’s push for an outright win as its Ranji Trophy contest against Assam drifted to a draw at the ACA stadium here on Monday.
In the morning, Kerala needed only 17 balls to wrap up Assam’s first innings, which was 231 for seven overnight, for 248 and the visitor enforced the follow on.
However, the host came up with an impeccable batting display on a pitch which eased out quickly in the blazing sun. Assam scored 212 for three in the second innings with opener Rahul Hazarika making full use of the ideal batting conditions to belt a century (107).
Both sides agreed for a draw soon after tea. Kerala got three points for its first innings lead while Assam had to be satisfied with one .
Assam openers Rahul and Rishav Das added 103 for the first wicket at a fast clip. The Kerala attack wasn’t disciplined and gave enough scoring opportunities to the Assam openers. Rahul punished the loose balls to quickly move to his half-century while Rishav lent solid support. He looked set for his fifty as well but Vihweshar Suesh trapped him in front with a delivery that kept low.
Gokul Sharma, who had earlier announced his retirement from First Class cricket, joined Rahul and the two blunted the Kerala attack to figure in a 52-run second wicket stand. Rahul, who went into a shell as he neared his hundred, reached the landmark by edging Nidheesh through the second slip past a diving Sachin Baby for a boundary.
Gokul (23) was caught by wicketkeeper Vishnu Vinod on the second attempt as the batter tried a cheeky paddle sweep off Jalaj Saxena. Soon Rahul departed, edging Nidheesh to the wicket-keeper but S.G. Ghadigaoankar and Riyan Parag played out the few overs before the players agreed for a draw.
Kerala will next meet Mumbai in Thiruvananthapuram while Assam will play Andhra in Dibrugarh from January 19.
The scores:
Kerala -- 1st innings: 419.
Assam -- 1st innings: Rishav Das b Thampi 31, Rahul Hazarika b Thampi 9, Siddharth Sarmah lbw Jalaj 0, S.C. Ghadigaoankar c Vishnu b Thampi 4, Riyan Parag lbw Suresh 116, Gokul Sharma st Vishnu b Jalaj 12, Saahil Jain c Anand Krishnan b Thampi 17, Akash Sengupta c Akshay b Thampi 19, Mukhtar Hussain c Baby b Jalaj 24, Sunil Lachit b Jalaj 0, Rahul Singh (not out) 0; Extras (b-10, lb-5, nb-1): 16; Total (in 64.5 overs): 248.
Fall of wickets: 1-13, 2-14, 3-25, 4-116, 5-168, 6-190, 7-205, 8-236, 9-236.
Kerala bowling: Thampi 16.5-0-82-5, Jalaj 18-1-58-2, Shreyas 6-1-17-0, Nidheesh 12-3-41-0, Suresh 11-3-33-1, Akshay 1-0-2-0.
Assam -- 2nd innings: Rishav Das lbw Suresh 45, Rahul Hazarika c Vishnu b Nidheesh 107, Gokul Sharma c Vishnu b Jalaj 23, S.C. Ghadigaoankar (not out) 16, Riyan Parag (not out) 12; Extras (b-6, b-2, nb-1): 9; Total (for three wkts. in 54 overs): 212.
Fall of wickets: 1-103, 2-155, 3-197.
Kerala bowling: Thampi 7-0-27-0, Jalaj 21-1-56-1, Nidheesh 7-0-14-1, Shreyas 8-0-43-0, Suresh 7-0-41-1, Akshay 4-0-23-0.
