File photo – Smit Patel’s 54 in the second innings wasn’t enough for Tripura © PTI
Kerala registered their first outright win of the season as they chased down 183 against Tripura in the first session of the final day in Cuttack.
Kerala’s opening pair of Bhavin Thakkar and Mohammed Azharuddeen extended their overnight stand of 117 to 151, before Azharuddeen was dismissed for 99, one short of his maiden first-class ton. Thakkar was dismissed for 47 shortly after, and a promoted Jalaj Saxena fell for 5, but Kerala chased down the target comfortably after that. Left-arm spinner Gurinder Singh took all three wickets. Azharuddeen, who had also top-scored for Kerala with 40 in the first innings, was named Player of the Match.
Earlier in the game, Tripura had taken the first-innings lead thanks to four-wicket hauls by their captain Manisankar Murasingh and part-time medium-pacer Sanjay Majumder. But they couldn’t capitalize on it as Kerala’s left-arm spinners Akshay Chandran and Iqbal Abdulla took seven wickets between them to bowl Tripura out for 162 in their second innings.
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo