Ranchi: Ishan Kishan continued his imperious run as he smashed a second century in as many matches to script Jharkhand's fight back against Kerala in their Ranji Trophy Group C match here on Thursday.
Less than a week after he blazed away to the fastest ODI double century against Bangladesh, Kishan was a picture of grit and determination in a 195-ball 132 (9x4) as he led Jharkhand's recovery from being 114/4 to 340 all out.
Giving him support was Saurabh Tiwary who missed out on a well-deserved century by just three runs after being cleaned up by Jalaj Saxena.
The duo put on 202 runs for the fifth wicket to revive Jharkhand after Basil Thampi (3/55) and Vaisakh Chandran (2/81) rocked the top-order to have them reeling at 56/3.
For Kerala, Jalaj Saxena grabbed a splendid 5/75. At close, Kerala were 60/1 with an overall lead of 195 runs as the match hung in balance at the JSCA International Stadium here.
Resuming the day on 87 for three, Jharkhand lost their skipper Virat Singh (30) with addition of just 27 runs. But Kishan and Tiwary saw off the attack from Saxena and Thampi to bat through the first two sessions.
But Saxena triggered the collapse dismissing Tiwary and Kishan off successive overs en route to his five-wicket haul as Jharkhand folded their first innings in 105.3 overs.
Arjun bags two
A day after scoring a century in his maiden first-class match to emulate his legendary father, left-arm seamer Arjun Tendulkar grabbed 2/77 on day three of Goa's match against Rajasthan.
Arjun dismissed a well-set Mahipal Lomror (63) and Salman Khan (40) in his four overs. Mohit Redkar returned with 3/46 as Rajasthan ended the day at 245/6, trailing Goa by 302 runs.
Goa earlier declared their first innings at 547 for 9.
Brief Scores: At Ranchi: Kerala 475 and 60/1; 15 overs (Rohan Prem 25 batting, Shoun Roger 28 batting). Jharkhand 340; 105.3 overs (Ishan Kishan 132, Saurabh Tiwary 97; Jalaj Saxena 5/75, Basil Thampi 3/55). Kerala need 195 runs. Match to continue.
At Bengaluru: Karnataka 304 and 90 for no loss (Ravikumar Samarth 40 batting, Mayank Agarwal 47 batting). Services 261in 83.2 overs (Rajat Paliwal 124, Ravi Chauhan 56; Vidwath Kaverappa 4/64, Ronit More 3/54). Karnataka lead by 133 runs. Match to continue.
At Puducherry: Chhattisgarh 162 and 184 b Puducherry 37 and 177; 65.3 overs (Arun Karthik 55 not out, Neyan Shyam Kangayan 49; Ajay Mandal 6/56, Shubham Agarwal 2/48, Sumit Ruikar 2/51) by 132 runs. Points: Chandigarh 6, Puducherry 0.
At Porvorim: Goa 547/9 declared. Rajasthan 245/6; 71 overs (Yash Kothari 96, Mahipal Lomror 63, Salman Khan 40; Mohit Redkar 3/46, Arjun Tendulkar 2/77). Rajasthan trail by 302 runs. Match to continue.