By Admin 
Pacers Vidwath Kaverappa and V. Vyshak boosted Karnataka’s chances of securing its first win of the season by forcing Kerala to follow-on on the penultimate day of the Ranji Trophy Elite Group-B match at the KCA stadium, Mangalapuram here on Monday.
The sustained hostility of both the pacers, coupled with rank bad shots by Kerala batters saw the host tumble to 238 all out in the first innings after resuming at the overnight 21 for three. Following on, Kerala’s makeshift opening pair of Krishna Prasad (two batting) and M.D. Nidheesh (four batting) survived another testing spell from the pacers to end the day at 10 for no loss, still trailing by 338 runs.
Kaverappa (four for 42) dealt the early blow by cleaning up overnight batter Akshay Chandran (11) with an inswinger and then struck N.P. Basil a blow on the head with a bouncer, forcing him to retire hurt. But B. Aparajith and Sachin Baby resisted and added 86 runs for the fifth wicket. Aparajith pulled Kaverappa for two sixes over square-leg and drove him through covers to reach his fifty before lunch. However, Sachin Baby (31) fell at the stroke of lunch, guiding Kaverappa to Shreyas Gopal at point.
Aparajith dominated the spinners as the pacers rested. Ahammed Imran played second fiddle in the sixth-wicket association with Aparajith which yielded 68 runs.
However, Aparajith (88), who looked set for a century, edged a catch to wicketkeeper Aneesh while trying to square-cut left-arm spinner Shikhar Shetty. Soon after, Ahammed Imran unwisely chose to attack Shreyas Gopal and wandered from his crease for Aneesh effect a stumping. Shikhar castled Mohammed Azharuddeen (six) to leave Kerala in dire straits. But Shoun Roger (29) and concussion sub Eden Apple Tom (10 not out) batted defiantly for nearly 18 overs. V. Vyshak (three for 62) returned and ended Shoun’s resistance before wrapping up the Kerala innings by rearranging M.U. Harikrishnan’s (6) stumps.
The scores: Karnataka — 1st innings: 586 for five decl.
Kerala — 1st innings: Krishna Prasad c Aneesh b Vyshak 4, N.P. Basil retired hurt 12, M.D. Nidheesh b Kaverappa 0, Vaisakh Chandran c (sub) Nikin bt Kaverappa 0, Akshay Chandran b Kaverappa 11, Sachin Baby c Shreyas b Kaverappa 31, B. Aparajith c Aneesh b Shikhar 88, Ahammed Imran st Shrijith b Shreyas 31, Mohammed Azharuddeen b Shikar 6, Shoun Roger lbw Vyshak 29, Eden Apple Tom (concussion sub) (not out) 10, M.U. Harikrishnan b Vyshak 6; Extras: (b-1, lb-9): 10; Total (in 95 overs): 238.
Fall of wickets: 1-9, 2-10, 3-14, 4-28, 5-114, 6-182, 7-186, 8-202, 9-232.
Karnataka bowling: Kaverappa 22-9-42-4, Vyshak 21-6-62-3, Shreyas 20-6-47-1, Shikhar 20-2-53-2, Mohsin 12-2-24-0.
Kerala — 2nd innings: Krishna Prasad (batting) 2, M.D. Nidheesh (batting) 4, Extras: (b-4): 4, Total (for no loss in 3 overs): 10.
Karnataka bowling: Kaverappa 2-1-1-0, Vyshak 1-0-5-0.