Nidheesh's six-for helps Kerala bowl Saurashtra out for 160

Mangalapuram (Kerala), Nov 8 (PTI) Medium-pacer MD Nidheesh's superb six-wicket haul helped Kerala bowl out Saurashtra for a mere 160 and take the upper hand on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy Group B match here on Saturday.

Right-armer Nidheesh (6/20) wreaked havoc on the Saurashtra batters as the visitors were all out for 160 in 55.2 overs after Kerala won the toss and opted to field.

It was Nidheesh's eighth first-class five-for.

One-down Jay Gohil top-scored with 84 off 123 balls with the help of 11 fours and two sixes as he contributed more than half of the Saurashtra total.

After bagging Harvik Desai for a duck in the first over, Nidheesh had Chirag Jani for 5 and Arpit Vasavada (0) in back-to-ball deliveries in the seventh over. He missed out on a hat-trick, but left Saurashtra at 7 for 3.

He then dismissed Prerak Mankad (13) and Ansh Gosai (1) to reduce Saurashtra to 82 for 5 in the 27th over. It was due to the 69-run partnership for the fourth wicket between Gohil and Mankad that took Saurashtra past the 150-run mark.

In reply, Kerala were 82 for 2 in 22 overs at stumps with opener Rohan Kunnummal batting on 59 off 58 balls with the help of nine fours and one six.

For Saurashtra, Hiten Kanbi took both the wickets.

In another Group B match in Pune, Karnataka made 257 for 5 against Maharashtra at stumps on the opening day after they were 89 for 3 at one stage.

Captain and opening batter Mayank Agarwal made 80 off 181 balls while Ravichandran Smaran chipped in with 54 off 84 balls after Karnataka opted to bat.

Karun Nair was dismissed for 4 by Ramakrishna Ghosh.

Veteran spinner Jalaj Saxena grabbed three wickets for 80 runs.

Brief Scores: In Mangalapuram: Saurashtra: 160 all out in 55.2 overs (Jay Gohil 84; MD Nidheesh 6/20) vs Kerala 82 for 2 in 22 overs (Rohan Kunnummal not out 59; Hiten Kanbi 2/26).

In Pune: Karnataka: 257 for 5 in 89 overs (Mayank Agarwal 80, Ravichandran Smaran 54; Jalaj Saxena 3/80) vs Maharashtra.

In Porvorim: Goa: 256 for 8 in 84.5 overs (Suyash Prabhudessai 65; Saransh Jain 4/72) vs Madhya Pradesh.

In Chandigarh: Chandigarh: 173 all out in 51 overs (Nikhil Thakur 63; Ayush Goyal 4/50, Harpreet Brar 3/29) vs Punjab 71 for 3 in 26 overs. PTI PDS AM PDS AM AM