By Admin 
Saransh Jain ended B. Aparajith and debutant Abhijith Praveen’s fightback late on day one as Madhya Pradesh cemented an early advantage in its Elite Group-B clash against Kerala at the Holkar Stadium here on Sunday.
Spin dominated early in the day. Kumar Kartikeya Singh took the second over after MP opted to bowl first, and immediately had Rohan Kunnummal edging to slip.
Kartikeya and Saransh then bowled in tandem to Abhishek J. Nair and Ankit Sharma. The two battled hard to add 54 on a pitch with turn and bounce, but Saransh eventually found the breakthrough, pinning Ankit in front with a skidding delivery. Sachin Baby fell soon after, bowled as his attempted defence spun back onto his stumps.
Abhishek – on First-Class debut – survived 113 balls in a composed showing. However, he eventually fell caught behind in Mohammad Arshad Khan’s first over.
Arshad utilised his left-arm angle to account for Abhishek before lunch, then removed Mohammed Azharruddeen and Ahammed Imran after the break to leave Kerala six down. He was supported by an unlucky Aryan Pandey, who went wicketless.
Abhijith and Aparajith faced some early communication issues, but soon settled. Aided by a pitch that seemed to gradually eased out, the pair staged a fightback. Aparajith scored quicker initially, scoring on both sides of the wicket and ensuring the scoreboard kept ticking with singles as he reached his fifty from 93 deliveries. Abhijith started slowly but grew in confidence as the day went on. He eventually raised his half-century from 121 deliveries. MP rang in the changes as it looked to strike, but Abhijith and Aparajith only seemed to become more secure with time. However, lightning struck twice as Abhijith’s defence against Saransh rolled back onto his stumps to end the partnership, leaving Aparajith to survive till stumps.
The scores: Kerala – 1st innings: Abhishek J. Nair c Mantri b Arshad 47, Rohan Kunnummal c Harpreet b Kartikeya 0, Ankit Sharma lbw Saransh 20, Sachin Baby b Saransh 0, B. Aparajith (batting) 81, Mohammed Azharuddeen c Mantri b Arshad 14, Ahammed Imran c Mantri b Arshad 5, Abhijith Praveen b Saransh 60, Sreehari Nair (batting) 7; Extras: (b-5, lb-5, w-2): 12; Total (for seven wkts. in 90 overs): 246.
Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-54, 3-60, 4-78, 5-97, 6-105, 7-227.
Madhya Pradesh bowling: Aryan 22-9-45-0, Kartikeya 27-7-59-1, Saransh 18-4-38-3, Kuldeep 9-1-47-0, Arshad 13-0-45-3, Shubham 1-0-2-0.