Thiruvananthapuram: Sachin Baby continued his dream run as Kerala recovered to reach 265/4 on the opening day of their must-win Ranji Trophy Elite Group B match against Bengal on Friday. Sachin (110) and Akshay Chandran (76) were at the crease at stumps. The two left-handers have so far added 153 for the unbroken fifth wicket.
Rohan Kunnummal (19), Jalaj Saxena (40), Rohan Prem (3) and captain Sanju Samson (8) were the batters dismissed after the hosts opted to bat at the St Xavier's College Ground, Thumba.
Sachin scored his 13th first-class ton, with the help of nine fours and a six. This was his third ton in six games this season. The 35-year-old also went past the tally of 5,000 first-class runs during the course of his knock.
This was also Sachin's fourth successive 50-plus score in as many innings. The southpaw had scored 109 not out against Bihar followed by 91 and 94 against Chhattisgarh.
Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal, Akash Deep, Ankit Mishra and Shahbaz Ahmed claimed one wicket apiece for the visitors.
Kerala, who have just eight points from five matches, need to win by a bonus point to keep their slim quarterfinal hopes alive. Bengal are in fourth spot in the eight-team group with 12 points from five games.
Kerala are searching for their maiden win this season.
Group toppers Mumbai (27 points) have already sealed their place in the quarterfinals, while Andhra (22) are in second spot.
Brief scores: Kerala 265/4 in 90 overs (Sachin Baby 110 batting, Akshay Chandran 76 batting, Jalaj Saxena 40) vs Bengal.
