Assam captain Riyan Parag perpetuated his recent string of good scores with another dazzling century (116) at the ACA Stadium here on Sunday.
Despite his knock, Kerala held the aces in the Ranji Trophy match after reducing the hosts to 231 for seven at stumps on the third day. Bad light truncated the proceedings as only 57 overs were bowled.
The start was delayed for one-and-half hours and Riyan came to bat in the second over after Basil Thampi had overnight batter S.C. Ghadigaoankar edging a catch to wicketkeeper Vishnu for four.
The skipper started with an imperious straight drive and picked Thampi off his toes for the second boundary in the over to get into his groove quickly.
There was nothing frenetic and slapdash in his batting. Riyan was neat and compact and simply punished the bad balls, which were many, during his stay in the middle. A short-arm pull over square leg for six off M.D. Nidheesh and a cover drive for four off Thampi stood out for their beauty.
Dour partner
Opener Rishav Das was very much the dour partner during the 91-run four-wicket stand with Riyan. Thampi breached Rishav’s (31) defence as the batter failed to capitalise on the ‘life’ he got when he was on 29.
Thampi was relentless and posed searching questions to the Assam batters and only Riyan looked comfortable facing him. But Thampi lacked support from other bowlers as they strayed in their line and were punished by Riyan.
Gokul Sarma, Assam’s most experienced batter, hung around to add 52 for the fifth wicket with Riyan. Jalaj Saxena foxed Gokul and had him stumped to leave Assam at 168 for five.
Riyan continued in the same vein and reached his century with an elegant drive for four off Nidheesh. Vishweshar Suresh gave Kerala a big lift by trapping Riyan in front.
However, Akash Sengupta (11 batting) and Mukhtar Hussain (19 batting) stalled Kerala’s hopes of wrapping up the innings quickly.
The scores:
Kerala — 1st innings: 419.
Assam — 1st innings: Rishav Das b Thampi 31, Rahul Hazarika b Thampi 9, Siddharth Sarmah lbw Jalaj 0, S.C. Ghadigaoankar c Vishnu b Thampi 4, Riyan Parag lbw Suresh 116, Gokul Sarma st. Vishnu b Jalaj 12, Saahil Jain c Anand Krishnan b Thampi 17, Akash Sengupta (batting) 11, Mukhtar Hussain (batting) 19, Extras (b-6, lb-5, nb-1): 12; Total (for seven wkts. in 62 overs): 231.
Fall of wickets: 1-13, 2-14, 3-25, 4-116, 5-168, 6-190, 7-205.
Kerala bowling: Thampi 15-0-69-4, Jalaj 17-0-58-2, Shreyas 6-1-17-0, Nidheesh 12-3-41-0, Suresh 11-3-33-1, Akshay 1-0-2-0.
