Kottayam: Kerala were in a strong position before rain interrupted play for the major part of the third day of their Ranji Trophy Group C match against Jammu and Kashmir at Kalyani, West Bengal, on Saturday.
Jammu and Kashmir were struggling at 106/5 in reply to Kerala's first innings total of 306 when rain came to their rescue.
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Kerala left-arm spinners Iqbal Abdulla (3/32) and K. S. Monish (2/6) spun a web around the J&K batsmen. Openers Shubham Khajuria (13) and Adil Reshi (40) started confidently and put on 57 runs before the latter fell to Abdulla. Thereafter J&K lost their way and slipped to 104/5. Monish got the big wicket of Ian Dev Singh for 13.
Bandeep Singh (1) and Puneet Bisht (2) were at the crease.
Earlier, Sanju Samson made 154 as Kerala resuming on 282/7 were bowled out for 306. Samiullah Beigh claimed 6/82 for J&K.
Kerala will be hoping that they can get enough overs of play on the final day to shoot out J&K and gain the vital first innings lead.
Brief scores: Kerala 306 (Sanju V. Samson 154; Samiullah Beigh 6/82) vs J&K 106/5 (Adil Reshi 40; Iqbal Abdulla 3/32).
