Chandigarh, A disciplined bowling performance by Nishunk Birla and Rohit Dhanda helped the UT boys to bowl out hosts Kerala for mere 139 runs on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy Elite clash at the KCA Cricket Ground, Trivandrum on Thursday.
Opting to bat after winning the toss, Kerala found run-scoring difficult right from the start as Chandigarh’s bowlers maintained tight lines. Medium pacer Rohit Dhanda was one of the key destroyers of Kerala’s collapse who finished with the impressive figures of 3 for 27 in 12 overs. while Spinner Nishunk Birla was equally effective by returning excellent figures of 4 for 40 from 17 overs .
The pace duo of Jagjit Singh Sandhu (2/17) and Karthik Sandil (1/20) provided vital support in the middle.
Kerala’s innings was featured by Sachin Baby (41) and B Aparajith (49) as rest of the batters failed to deliver their performances.
In reply, Chandigarh ended Day 1 strongly at 142 for 1 and took a narrow three-run lead with unbeaten Arjun Azad (78) and Manan Vohra (51) who scored an unbeaten 117-run partnership.
