Thiruvananthapuram:Sachin Baby followed up his 159 with a fine 93 as Kerala tightened their grip on Services in their Ranji Trophy Elite Group C match at the St Xavier's College Ground, Thumba, on Thursday.

Services, chasing a stiff target of 341, ended the third day on 20/0. The visitors need 321 more to pull off an unlikely win on the final day. 

Baby's knock as well as forties by Vathsal Govind and Salman Nizar helped Kerala declare their second innings on 242/7 in 60 overs. Kerala scored at four per over in their second innings.

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Baby smashed six fours and a couple of sixes in his 109-ball stint.

Earlier, captain Sijomon Joseph and Jalaj Saxena picked up three wickets each as Kerala gained a first innings lead of 98 

Resuming on 167/6, Services were bowled out for 229. The visitors added 62 runs for the loss of the remaining four wickets. 

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Left-arm spinner Sijomon scalped two, while offie Saxena and pacer M D Nidheesh claimed one each on the day to wrap up the Services innings.

Sijomon returned figures of 3/15, while Saxena took 3/66.

Brief scores: Kerala 327 & 242/7 in 60 overs (Sachin Baby 93, Vathsal Govind 48, Salman Nizar 40; Diwesh Pathania 2/13, Mohit Rathee 2/69) versus Services 229 in 68.1 overs (Ravi Chouhan 50; Sijomon Joseph 3/15, Jalaj Saxena 3/66, Vaisakh Chandran 2/30, M D Nidheesh 2/41) & 20/0 in seven overs.

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