Kerala storm into contention after sensational win
The race for the knockouts continues to be a three-way fight between Kerala, Gujarat and Saurashtra
ESPNcricinfo staff
20-Nov-2017
Ranjith Peralam
Spinners Jalaj Saxena, Sijomon Joseph and KC Akshay skittled Saurashtra for 95 as Kerala won by 309 runs in Thiruvananthapuram. Sanju Samson's 175 had assisted Kerala's comeback to seize control and stretch their lead to 411, handing Saurashtra 404 to chase on the last day.
Joseph prompted Saurashtra's slide as they resumed from their overnight score of 30 for 1, dismissing Robin Uthappa and Snell Patel early. The rest of the line-up, save Sheldon Jackson - failed to fire. Saxena and Akshay struck back-to-back, removing four batsmen for ducks, as Saurashtra lost five wickets in six overs. The win vaulted Kerala to second in the points table with one game to play.
Siddharth Desai's stunning debut season continued to get better. His five for along with and Piyush Chawla's three-for spun Gujarat to a bonus-point win. Rajasthan were bowled out for 341 on the last day in Surat.
Resuming on 183 for 4, Rajasthan lost their overnight batsman AR Gupta early on the day, but a 72-run sixth-wicket stand between Mahipal Lomror (60 off 98 balls) and Rajesh Bishnoi resurrected them, taking them to 265 for 5. With Rajasthan still needing 183 runs to erase the deficit, Bishnoi struck to end the stand, following which wickets fell successively. Chawla cleared the tail, and Rajasthan surrendered ten overs after tea, as Gujarat kept their top spot on the Group B table intact.
Ajit Chahal's five-for wrecked Jammu & Kashmir as Haryana won by 39 runs in Lahli. This was their first win of the season.
Haryana added just six runs to their overnight score of 161 for 9, handing J&K 176 to chase. After losing their opener Ahmed Bandy in the fourth ball of their innings, Shubham Khajuria and Bandeep Singh added 47 runs for the second-wicket. Chahal triggered the collapse, removing Khajuria and Puneet Bisht in the 15th over and coming back in the 17th over to remove Bandeep Singh.
The resistance for J&K came in the form of Owais Shah and captain Parvez Rasool in the middle-order. They added 54 runs to the sixth-wicket. Following their wickets in subsequent overs, Chahal and Ashish Hooda struck back-to-back to bowl J&K out for 157. Chahal finished with match figures of 8 for 117.