By Admin 
Kerala’s seamers produced a disciplined display to put it in a promising position in its Elite Group-B clash against Madhya Pradesh after a day of attritional cricket at the Holkar Stadium here on Monday.
The trio of M.D. Nidheesh, V. Abhijith Praveen, and Eden Apple Tom came to the fore, maintaining immaculate line and length across the day to choke the MP batters. Abhijith struck first, bowling Yash Dubey on the stroke of lunch with a nip-backer after the opener shouldered arms.
Post resumption, the triumvirate produced a frugal bowling display to Harsh Gawli and Himanshu Mantri, minimising loose deliveries and targeting the stumps to deny both batters any rhythm. The accuracy was rewarded with the wicket of Gawli, trapped in front by a ball delivered from wide by Nidheesh.
Eden then tilted the game in Kerala’s favour with a double-strike before tea. His first wicket was fortunate, as Shubham Sharma was adjudged leg before despite an inside-edge, but he followed it up by dismissing Harpreet Singh Bhatia — who played around a straight one — for a golden duck.
Nidheesh solidified the dominance by pinning Mantri in front two balls after tea. Rishabh Chouhan played some attractive strokes, but was dismissed by a reflex catch from Ahammed Imran at short leg off B. Aparajith.
Revival
That MP remains fighting can be credited to Saransh Jain and Aryan Pandey, who put on a late half-century stand. Saransh essayed a few eye-catching shots while playing positively against both pace and spin.
Earlier in the day, Aparajith was unable to complete his ton. The veteran, who batted patiently with Eden, sliced Kuldeep Sen to gully two runs shy of his century.
Eden survived 67 balls as Aryan Pandey earned a well-deserved first wicket by castling Nidheesh to end Kerala’s first innings.
The scores:
Kerala — 1st innings: Abhishek J. Nair c Mantri b Arshad 47, Rohan Kunnummal c Harpreet b Kartikeya 0, Ankit Sharma lbw b Saransh 20, Sachin Baby b Saransh 0, B. Aparajith c Dubey b Kuldeep 98, Mohamed Azharuddeen c Mantri b Arshad 14, Ahammed Imran c Mantri b Arshad 5, V. Abhijith Praveen b Saransh 60, Sreehari Nair b Arshad 7, Eden Apple Tom (not out) 9, M.D. Nidheesh b Aryan 7; Extras (b-6, lb-6, w-2): 14; Total (in 114.4 overs): 281.
Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-54, 3-60, 4-78, 5-97, 6-105, 7-227, 8-251, 9-267.
Madhya Pradesh bowling: Aryan 28.4-12-56-1, Kartikeya 30-8-61-1, Saransh 20-5-40-3, Kuldeep 15-2-56-1, Arshad 20-2-54-4, Shubham 1-0-2-0.
Madhya Pradesh — 1st innings: Harsh Gawli lbw b Nidheesh 21, Yash Dubey b Abhijith 0, Himanshu Mantri lbw b Nidheesh 21, Shubham Sharma lbw b Eden 10, Harpreet Singh Bhatia lbw b Eden 0, Rishabh Chouhan c Imran b Aparajith 21, Saransh Jain (batting) 41, Aryan Pandey (batting) 33; Extras (b-5, lb-3): 8; Total (for six wkts. in 61 overs): 155.
Fall of wickets: 1-8, 2-43, 3-60, 4-60, 5-73, 6-101.
Kerala bowling: Nidheesh 16-2-39-2, Abhijith 9-2-12-1, Eden 11-0-40-2, Sreehari 15-2-43-0, Aparajith 7-3-10-1, Ankit 3-0-3-0.