Ranji Trophy 2023-24: Shreyas Gopal shines by way of the gloom for Kerala in opposition to Bihar on day 1

It appears there isn’t a rapid answer to Kerala’s batting woes. The 4 adjustments, together with handing over debuts to 3 kids, did little to arrest the acquainted collapse as Kerala put up one other underwhelming present with the bat and handed over the benefit to host Bihar within the Ranji Trophy cricket match on the Moin Ul Haq stadium right here on Friday.

Forced to bat below overcast situations after a delayed begin of 90 minutes, Kerala’s high order crumbled to Bihar’s opening bowlers Veer Pratap Singh (3/26) and Vipul Krishna (2/57) earlier than a rearguard century by Shreyas Gopal (113 batting) carried the customer to 203 for 9 at stumps.

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The new opening pair of captain Rohan Kunnammal and debutant Anand Krishnan lasted simply 4 overs when Vipul breached Rohan’s (5) defence. The ball darted round and dependable Sachin Baby (1) and Vishnu Vinod (0) retreated early to the dressing room. Akshay Chandran, who changed Rohan Prem, rode his luck early however Anand fell to Veer for 9 as Kerala wobbled at 34 for 4 at lunch.

Shreyas was not averse to punishing the unfastened balls and received into his stride by square-driving Veer for a boundary. Shreyas and Akshay Chandran added 50 runs for the fifth wicket to revive the innings. However, leg spinner Himanshu Singh pressured Akshay to edge a catch to Piyush at brief leg to finish the partnership. Himanshu knocked out debutant Vishnu Raj’s leg stump to depart Kerala reeling at 102 for six.

FOLLOW | RANJI TROPHY ROUND FOUR DAY 1 HIGHLIGHTS

Then Shreyas and Jalaj Saxena took the assault to the Bihar bowlers and figured in a 61-run stand for the seventh wicket. It was the briefest of intervals when Kerala batters seemed to be in management over the bowling.

However, Jalaj’s extensive slog of Vipul noticed Pratap take a tumbling catch at deep sq. leg to finish the stand. Himanshu dismissed Basil Thampi for a golden duck as Kerala slumped to 164 for eight. Nidheesh resisted for some time earlier than Himashu trapped him leg earlier than.

Shreyas, within the firm of debutant Akhin Sattar, then pissed off Bihar so as to add 27 runs for the final wicket. Shreyas farmed the strike and struck a flurry of boundaries to achieve the landmark and completed the day with a flourish tonking Himanshu over mid-wicket for a six.