Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala's outstation professionals Aditya Sarvate and Jalaj Saxena spun a web around the Punjab batters on the rain-hit first day of their Ranji Trophy Elite Group C opener at the St Xavier's College Ground, Thumba, on Friday.
Opting to bat, Punjab went into lunch at 95/5. The match could not be resumed post the break due to rain.
Punjab opener Abhay Choudhary fell for a duck to Sarvate in the opening over. The left-arm spinner, making his Kerala debut, accounted for Naman Dhir (10). The visitors suffered a big blow when their captain Prabhsimran Singh was cleaned up by Sarvate for 12.
The ever reliable Saxena got into the act soon. The veteran offie sent back Nehal Wadhera (9) and Anmolpreet Singh (28) to leave Punjab reeling at 62/5. Ramandeep Singh (28 batting) and Krish Bhagat (6 batting) took them to lunch without further loss.
Veteran all-rounder Baba Aparajith also made his Kerala debut.
Brief scores: Punjab 95/5 in 39 overs (Aditya Sarvate 3/30, Jalaj Saxena 2/30) vs Kerala.