*Kerala let off the hook

Karnataka let slip a wonderful advantage to bowl out Kerala for a lot less than their final total in their Ranji Trophy league match at Bangalore on Tuesday.

Winning the toss, Karnataka put Kerala in to bat. They had their opposition in all sorts of trouble at 57/5 and then 128/6, with Venkatesh Prasad blowing apart the top order with three wickets. Skipper Sunil Oasis put together 47, but it was not until Sreekumar Nair collaborated with KN Ananthapadmanabhan that Kerala looked certain to cross the 200-run mark.

Bowled out finally for 228, off 67.3 overs, Kerala lost a good chance to post a big total and put pressure on Karnataka. The home side made it through to the close of play without losing any wickets; Karnataka were 14/0 at stumps.

*Goa and Hyderabad share Day One honours

Honours were even on Day One of the Ranji Trophy match between Hyderabad and Goa at Panaji on Tuesday.

Hyderabad, winning the toss, put their opposition in to bat. A 37-run opening stand saw off the initial jitters, but it was really the 84- run partnership between Tanveer Jabbar and Amitabh Velaskar that saw Goa regain some momentum. After opener SV Kamat's 73, Jabbar's 60 was the next highest score.

Batting resolutely, Jabbar hit nine fours and a six in his 109-ball knock. He was supported amply by Velaskar, who made 37 off 104 balls. At the close of play, Goa were 237/5; for Hyderabad, Venkatapathy Raju was the most successful bowler, taking 2-33 off 23 overs.

*Careless batting sees Tamil Nadu collapse

Some careless batting and running from Tamil Nadu batsmen spurred a collapse in their Ranji Trophy league match against Andhra Pradesh at Vishakapatnam on Tuesday.

Winning the toss, Tamil Nadu skipper Robin Singh opted to have first strike. His openers did not let him down, with Sridharan Sriram and Sadagopan Ramesh posting a 55-run stand for the first wicket. Another mini-partnership followed between Sriram and C Hemanth Kumar.

After the latter was run out, however, things took a different turn. Three more wickets followed, with KS Sahabuddin taking two of them. Only Hemang Badani could stay at the crease; at the close of play, Badani was unbeaten on 40. He was accompanied by TR Arasu (5) as Tamil Nadu ended the day on 179/5.

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