Kerala desperately tried to flog a dead match to life and did all it could by scoring quickly in the first session and even set a target for Chhattisgarh to chase. However, the host refused to take up the challenge and its batters faced little problem in blunting the Kerala attack on the slow wicket. The match between two sides drifted to a draw at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Cricket stadium here on Monday.
After being set a target of 290 in 53 overs, Chhattisgarh made a slow progress to 71 for one off 22 overs when the captains agreed for a draw after the tea break. Kerala took three points for the first innings lead while Chhattisgarh got one from the draw.
Kerala’s quest for quick runs in the morning was given an impetus by Vishnu Vinod, who clubbed two boundaries and a six in the first two overs bowled by medium pacers Ravi Kiran and Ashish Chouhan. Vishnu’s (24) blitz didn’t last long as he threw away his wicket to wild slog against left arm spinner Ajay Mandal. The new batter Sanju Samson didn’t allow the tempo to dip as he attacked the bowlers to score runs quickly. Sanju (24) perished trying for a big shot against Ajay and was caught at the long on fence by Shashank Chandrakar.
