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A flawless opening hour saw Kerala bowlers M.D. Nidheesh and N.P. Basil scythe through the Maharashtra top order with swing and bounce, putting the host in command at the end of the opening day’s play in their Ranji Trophy clash at the Sports Hub, Greenfield stadium in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday.
A dutiful accumulation by Ruturaj Gaikwad (91,151b, 11×4) and his 122-run sixth-wicket stand with Jalaj Saxena (49,106b, 4×4) carried Maharashtra from doldrums (18 for five) to reach 179 for seven when bad light and rain stopped play 37 minutes after tea.
Earlier, Kerala captain Mohammed Azharuddeen won the toss and opted to field. He gambled by giving the new ball to Nidheesh, and the medium pacer reposed the faith by pinning Prithvi Shaw (0) in front with an inswinger. Siddesh Veer (0) feathered a catch to Azharuddeen as Maharashtra slipped to zero for two in the first over.
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N.P. Basil got the ball to bounce, and it took the edge of Arshin Kulkarni’s (0) bat and was snapped by a diving Rohan Kunnummal at the second slip. Basil then had captain Ankit Bawne (0) playing on to leave Maharashtra in dire straits (5/4). Nidheesh, who has really worked on his inswing this season, trapped Nawale with an inducker as Maharashtra slipped to 18 for five.
Jalaj Saxena walked in to bat against his former teammates and was overtly aggressive. The sixth wicket pair exploited the better batting conditions after the first hour to frustrate Kerala bowlers.
Gaikwad cover drove and square cut Edhen for successive boundaries to reach his fifty. However, Nidheesh nipped one back to trap Jalaj (49) in front. Edhen redeemed himself after an erratic first spell to dismiss Gaikwad (91) against the run of play. Gaikwad was a little late as the ball from Edhen cannoned onto his pads.
Light deteriorated rapidly, forcing the umpires to stop play when Vicky Ostwal (10 batting) and Ramakrishna Ghosh (11 batting) were at the crease.
Published on Oct 15, 2025
