Goa, forced to remain the underdog in the last three days, gave a major scare to Kerala before the Pool C Ranji Trophy match between the two sides ended in a draw at the Brabourne stadium here on Wednesday.
Set a target of 325 for an outright win by Kerala, which declared its second innings at 268 for eight after an hour and 34 minutes on the final day, Goa came close to winning and was left to score 46 off the last five overs before bad light brought about an anti-climax.
Goa’s chase was orchestrated by its skipper Sagun Kamat, who scored a scintillating 151 off 176 balls, and was involved in a 127-run partnership with Snehal Kauthankar for the third wicket. This, after he and Swapnil Asnodkar had put on 111 runs for the second wicket after the early exit of Sumiran Amonkar.
The 33-year-old left-hander ensured the turn around, treating the Kerala bowlers with disdain, carting them to all corners of the ground as he completed his eighth century in 74 matches.
Asnodkar initially, and Kaunthankar later, lent excellent support to their captain, rotating the strike quite admirably forcing the Kerala bowlers to adjust their line time and again.
Sloppy fielding by the Kerala fielders also made it easy for Kamat and his colleagues. Goa did slow down after Kamat and Kauthankar made their exit at 248 and 257 after the duo tried to press the accelerator too hard in Goa’s quest for a second consecutive win.
Bandekar, the hero of the morning for his five-wicket haul in Kerala’s second innings, proved ominous as the match looked poised for a tantalising end. The entire Kerala camp was in jitters at this stage with substitutes running in and out with messages before the umpires called off play, much to the relief of the team.
Kerala gained three points for taking the first innings lead to take its tally to 15 points from six matches, while Goa took a point for a total of 11 from the same number of matches.
The scores:
Kerala — 1st innings: 342.
Goa — 1st innings: 286.
Kerala — 2nd innings: Bhavin Thakkar c Dubhashi b Bandekar 1, Vishnu Vinod c Rituraj b Bandekar 20, Rohan Prem c Kamat b Bandekar 71, Sanju Samson b Bandekar 0, Sachin Baby b Alemao 6, Mohammed Azharuddeen c Kamat b Bandekar 68, Iqbal Abdullah b Amit 38, C.V. Vinod Kumar c Rituraj b Jakati 14, K. Monish (not out) 16, Fabid Ahmed (not out) 22; Extras (nb-3, w-1, b-5, lb-3): 12; Total (for eight wkts. decl. in 67 overs): 268.
Fall of wickets: 1-3, 2-30, 3-34, 4-54, 5-176, 6-179, 7-200, 8-246.
Goa bowling: Rituraj Singh 11-0-43-0, Saurabh Bandekar 18-0-74-5, Amit Yadav 17-0-65-1, Felix Alemao 4-0-14-1, Shadab Jakati 16-3-57-1, Darshan Misal 1-0-7-0.
Goa — 2nd innings: Sumiran Amonkar c Samson b Warrier 4, Swapnil Asnodkar c & b Abdullah 41, Sagun Kamat st. Azharuddeen b Abdullah 151, Snehal Kauthankar b Abdullah 41, S.S. Bandekar (not out) 20, Darshan Misal c Samson b Abdullah 5, Amit Yadav (not out) 0; Extras (nb-3, w-2, b-10, lb-2): 17; Total (for five wkts. in 63 overs): 279.
Fall of wickets: 1-10, 2-121, 3-248, 4-257, 5-273.
Kerala bowling: Sandeep Warrier 11-1-53-1, Vinod Kumar 5-2-20-0, K.S. Monish 15-2-52-0, Bhavin Thakkar 2-0-9-0, Fabinb Ahmed 12-0-56-0, Iqbal Abdullah 16-1-66-4, Rohan Prem 2-0-11-0.
