Kerala kept up its winning momentum in the 2023-24 Vijay Hazare Trophy with a six-wicket win over Pondicherry at the Alur Cricket Stadium here on Sunday.
Asked to bat first, Pondicherry could accumulate just 116, with medium pacer Akhil Scaria and left-arm spinner Sijomon Joseph snaring three wickets each (3/15 and 3/2 respectively). But for captain Fabid Ahmed (44, 49b, 3x4, 2x6) and opener Akash Kargave (25, 27b, 6x4), not one Pondicherry batter crossed 15.
In reply, Kerala knocked off the runs in under 20 overs, with Sachin Baby (25 n.o., 38b, 4x4) and Sanju Samson (35 n.o., 13b, 4x4, 3x6) the top scorers.
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Kerala is now tied on points with Mumbai at the top of Group A (20 points) after the latter suffered a 53-run defeat (VJD) method to Tripura at the Kini Sports Arena Ground.
Wriddhiman Saha’s band of merrymakers, who earlier embarrassed defending champion Saurashtra, made 288 for five after being asked to make first use of the pitch.
There were half-centuries from Bikram Kumar Das (70, 78b, 8x4, 1x6), Sudip Chatterjee (60, 78b, 6x4), Ganesh Satish (50, 69b, 4x4) and Manisankar Murasingh (55 n.o., 26b, 5x4, 3x6) as the Mumbai pace attack comprising Shardul Thakur, Tushar Deshpande and Mohit Avasthi conceded 167 runs from 28 overs.
Inclement weather reduced Mumbai’s target to 265 from 43 overs, but Ajinkya Rahane & Co. fell well short of the mark. The skipper made a valiant 78 (84b, 7x4, 1x6), and in the company of Sarfaraz Khan (26, 26b, 1x4, 1x6) looked set to carry his team to victory.
But from 159 for three, Mumbai lost Rahane, Sarfaraz and Shams Mulani for the addition of just seven runs. Prasad Pawar and Shardul, who had bailed the team out against Saurashtra in the previous game, couldn’t produce a repeat performance, scoring just 10 and 13 runs respectively.
The seasoned Murasingh shone with the ball too, returning excellent figures of four for 23 (8.1-3-23-4) to help Tripura in yet another giant-killing act.
