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Keaton Jennings has been appointed as Durham’s Royal London One-Day Cup captain for 2017.Jennings, whose captaincy experience will be extended by leading England Lions in Sri Lanka next month, will lead Durham for the duration of the 50-over competition, which begins against Derbyshire at Emirates Riverside on April 27.The shift of the competition to the first half of the season enables Jennings to lead Durham before the start of England’s Test summer, which in 2017 does not begin until South Africa play at Lord’s on July 6.Jennings stood in as Durham captain in the same format last year in the absence of Paul Collingwood, and has now been given the job on a permanent basis.All-rounder Paul Coughlin has been appointed as Jennings’ vice-captain while Collingwood will continue as the Specsavers County Championship skipper.Jennings, Durham’s club’s Player of the Year and Players’ Player of the Year, said: “It’s one of those dreams as a young boy, you want to lead your side so it’s an honour to lead Durham this year.Head coach Jon Lewis said: “Keaton has developed immensely over the last 12 months, not only as a player but also as a leader in the dressing room, and he has commanded the respect of the dressing room. This new role reflects his standing in the side and we are confident he can lead us forward in the 50-over competition.”He was highly impressive when he stepped in to the role last season and has already started to build up experience of handling the responsibilities that come with being a captain.”Even with possible England commitments, we are likely to see Keaton for the entirety of the tournament and we feel this is another important step forward in his career.”Jennings will also captain the North side in the inaugural North vs South series, which takes place in the UAE in March.

Jimmy Adams has admitted West Indies’ selection policy is “not sustainable” and is “not helping our cricket”.Currently, only those players who have made themselves available for Caribbean regional tournaments are considered for West Indies’ international sides. However, overseas domestic leagues such as the BBL, the PSL and the IPL – all of which overlap in some way with the Caribbean regional competitions – are proving irresistible to many of the most talented players, leading to a situation in Test and ODI cricket, in particular, where their best players are often deemed ineligible for selection.But Adams, who was appointed as West Indies’ director of cricket about five weeks ago, has confirmed that a review of the policy is underway and intimated that he is keen to adopt a less hard-line approach.And while the prevailing attitude of West Indies management appears to have been negative towards overseas leagues in recent times, Adams admitted he could see benefits in Caribbean players participating in them, accepting that many of their best had been “battle-hardened” by their experiences.”The outstanding issue now is player eligibility,” Adams told ESPNcricinfo. “I’m encouraged by the fact that most, if not all parties are in agreement that what is in place now is not sustainable and might not be helping our cricket in the short or long term.”I’m not the only person who is going to be involved in the decision. But I’m certainly of the view that it [the selection policy] needs reviewing. There’s a process behind that which means it probably won’t happen overnight. The review is ongoing and has started but, if a change of direction is to happen, it won’t be overnight as there is a process that backs that up. But it is being reviewed. A lot of stakeholders in our cricket appreciate now that it does have to be looked at.”I also think that a lot of our international players – the Chris Gayle generation – will have started under Stanford, but will have developed and become battle-hardened in leagues outside the Caribbean. And if I’m waving a magic wand, I’d like to have the standard in the Caribbean where, if they do play overseas that’s fine – certainly from a financial point of view – but in terms of developing our own T20 to an international standard, then we want our cricket in the Caribbean to be a lot stronger.”I’d like to have the best players available. I’m not going to stick my neck on the block. It’s a selection panel decision as to who the best players are but, ideally, you always want the best players available for selection.”Adams knows that he has quite a challenge in front of him in his new role. As if improving results is not tough enough – West Indies did not qualify for this year’s ICC Champions Trophy and currently sit eighth in the Test rankings – he has entered into an environment so toxic it has sometimes seemed UN peacekeepers would be more appropriate than cricket administrators.But while he accepts he inherits a tough situation – “I may not live to see the promised land” he says at one stage – he is also optimistic that, if the sense of frustration that exists in the Caribbean over the decline in their cricket can be unified, progress can be made.”I’m pretty realistic about where we’re at,” he said. “Our standards aren’t good enough across the board and it’s reflected in the cricket that we play.”But we have the raw materials; we have good young players. What we need is a system that can take this raw talent and convert it into an international product that’s world class. We have the potential to achieve a lot more if we can get people singing off the same hymn book going forwards.”We do have one thing in common across the board: everyone wants to see stronger cricket.”I sense more and more that more stakeholders appreciate that and are getting to the point where maybe, as an entity, we all need to be more willing to give a little bit to make that happen. I think that has to happen. I don’t think everybody can keep holding onto their territories for much longer given where we are. I want to encourage that. I want to be an agent for that change to happen.”

R Ashwin will miss the entire season of the upcoming IPL for Rising Pune Supergiant because of a sports hernia. Ashwin reported groin pain and has been advised six to eight weeks of rehabilitation, but is expected to regain full fitness ahead of India’s title defence at the Champions Trophy in June.M Vijay too is in danger of missing the entire tournament for Kings XI Punjab because of wrist and shoulder injuries that he played with for a better part of India’s long home season. Vijay will require surgery to his right wrist and also undergo rehabilitation for his left shoulder and “may not be able to participate in IPL 2017,” a BCCI release said on Saturday*.Ravindra Jadeja and Umesh Yadav, the BCCI further stated, will need two weeks to recuperate from their respective injuries. Jadeja has “issues” with his spinning finger while Umesh reported soreness in his right hip and lower back. Both will miss the first two matches for their respective franchises. Gujarat Lions’ first two matches are on April 7 and 9 before their third on April 14 against Supergiant in Rajkot. Kolkata Knight Riders, the team Umesh represents, also play their first two matches on April 7 and 9 with the third against Kings XI at home on April 13.Ashwin, 30, has had an unprecedented workload during India’s marathon home season that featured 13 Test matches against New Zealand, England, Bangladesh and Australia. During the period, Ashwin bowled 738.2 overs – the most ever by a bowler in a Test season – and picked up a record 82 wickets. Along with Jadeja, Ashwin claimed 153 wickets at an average of 24.14 to become the most successful bowling pair in a season.Ashwin first picked up the injury immediately after the Test series against England in December. In the aftermath, he withdrew from Tamil Nadu’s Ranji Trophy quarter-final against Karnataka.*0530 GMT Player availabilities were updated after the BCCI issued a release

Ben Stokes has won three Man-of-the-Match awards in eight matches in IPL 2017, each performance leading to a Rising Pune Supergiant victory. His most recent award was also his first for a batting performance – an unbeaten 63-ball 103, that saw Rising Pune recover from 10 for 3 to chase down 162 with five wickets to spare. It is numbers like these that Stokes would like to judge himself on instead of being bogged down by the pressure of the INR 14.5 crore price tag at the auction, Rising Pune captain Steven Smith said.”He’s been hitting the ball really well,” Smith said on Monday. “We’re very happy with where he’s at and how he’s played. That was an amazing innings: under pressure, came in at three for nothing and to play the way he did, he timed his innings beautifully, took the game on at the right time. Fantastic knock to get us home. He hit some very clean balls there, chose the right balls to hit, too.”He’s always said from the start that he judges himself on how he plays. He’s not going to put any extra pressure on himself just because he has a big price tag next to his name.”Smith, who had reportedly played an active role in identifying players for the franchise at the auction, revealed he had asked the team owners to go all out for Stokes. The England allrounder eventually became the most expensive overseas player ever in the auction.”We were very excited to get him. I had said before the auction to the guys [owners] just do what you have to to get him,” Smith said. “Allrounders are so valuable in T20 cricket and he bats, bowls and fields well. He’s a perfect fit for our team, particularly after Mitchell Marsh was ruled out as well. He’s done a terrific job for us. We paid a big amount to get him. We know he’s a quality player. [He] certainly earned his cash tonight.”For us it’s about trying to get to know each other for six or eight weeks and try and get the best out of each other. Even learn a bit about one another. The team’s been really good. We’ve got some really good characters in the shed there.”Rising Pune have won five of their last six games, with three victories at home. Over the last 10 days, they played four games in Pune and one in Mumbai, and Smith had identified this clutch of matches as an opportune time for a surge on the points table.”I actually said to the group of guys that we had five games, four here [in Pune] and one in Mumbai,” he said. “Not a lot of travel. Home ground, we wanted to try and make it a bit of a fortress.”We’re four [wins] and two [losses] here, if I’m right. That’s reasonable going. One more game to play here against the Kings [XI Punjab on May 14], so hopefully we can make it 5 and 2. I’ve said that these five games are very important for us and I think we’ve played some really good cricket and it’s nice to get over the line and be in the position where we are now.”With the exception of the victories against Royal Challengers Bangalore, all other Rising Pune wins were clinched in the last over. Smith recognised that closing out tight games has proved to be the defining factor in their improved run in IPL 2017, after a seventh-place finish last season. The good work on the field, according to Smith, has coincided with off-field bonding.”It’s certainly been a different season for us,” Smith said. “This year we’ve been able to get over the line in those close games. Last year we were at the end of that. That’s how T20 cricket works sometimes. We’ve been really fortunate there.”It’s been good how we’ve been able to gel together as a team. I’d say for us and Gujarat [Lions] as well, would’ve been the toughest for the two franchises, given that we were new teams. A lot of other teams have had their core players for a long time so they know each other really well. They have had many years of bonding together. It’s nice to be playing some good cricket at the same time; it helps.”Rising Pune’s upswing has meant New Zealand pacer Lockie Ferguson, who picked up 2 for 7 against Royal Challengers and was named Man of the Match, didn’t find a place in the XI on Stokes’ return from an injury on Monday.”It was difficult [to leave out Ferguson] but we had some different thoughts,” Smith said. “We thought this is our best combination. Dan Christian has bowled particularly well in the games he’s played and he’s a power-hitter towards the end as well. He’s done a really good job for us. So tonight it was the right call.”It’s about trying to get the right balance for your team in any conditions you play. It’s not just our team that faces this. Every team has some quality players on their bench in the opposition, so it’s tough on the guys that they miss out, but you have to try and pick your best team for each game.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball updatesNew Zealand, led by Martin Guptill and Kane Williamson, overhauled Sri Lanka’s target of 357 with ease to complete a six-wicket victory in both teams’ final warm-up game at Edgbaston.Guptill smashed 10 fours and five sixes in his 76-ball knock of 116 while Williamson followed that up with a 60-ball 88. Both batsmen subsequently decided to retire out – Guptill in the 29th and Williamson in the 32nd – but by then New Zealand were 101 runs away at a required run rate of less than six.Earlier in the day, Sri Lanka’s batsmen fielded a batting-heavy outfit that posted 356 runs in their 50 overs. Upul Tharanga started the onslaught at the top, smashing 13 fours and three sixes to notch up a century. Kusal Mendis, at one drop, hammered seven fours and a six in his 50-ball 57 while Dinesh Chandimal – at two down- hit a quickfire 55.It took Sri Lanka 15 overs to get to 100, another 15 to get to 200 and only 12 more to get to 300. That they managed to keep scoring at breakneck speed could well be attributed to their batting line-up. Of the nine batsmen used by them, only Nuwan Kulasekara’s primary skill was that of a bowler. New Zealand, too, used nine bowlers but only Corey Anderson (0-39) and left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner (0-34) went for less than six an over. Despite taking two wickets, Trent Boult leaked 47 runs in his five overs.Tom Latham (44) was instrumental in providing New Zealand a brisk start alongside Guptill with the pair adding 78 for the first wicket. Guptill and Williamson then took over, scoring 157 runs in 94 balls for the second wicket. Ross Taylor replaced Guptill with New Zealand at 235 for 2 in 29 overs, after which Neil Broom (37*) and Anderson – who reached his fifty with a six to finish the match – steered them home with 23 balls to spare. Of Sri Lanka’s seven bowlers, only Seekkuge Prasanna’s legspin managed to pick up any wickets. He finished with figures of 2 for 63 off his ten.

Taijul Islam’s unbeaten half-century at No. 8 helped Mohammedan Sporting Club secure a two-wicket victory over Partex Sporting Club at the BKSP-3 Ground in Savar.Taijul came in to bat on Thursday with Mohammedan’s 230 chase stuttering at 145 for 6. After the dismissals of Raqibul Hasan (34) and Rony Talukdar (16),Taijul added 76 runs in 13.4 overs with No. 9 batsman Sajedul Islam (27). Taijul hit four fours and two sixes during his 51-ball 57 and helped overhaul the target with two wickets and 10 balls to spare.Earlier, Taijul had accounted for Jatin Saxena (4) and Rajibul Islam (14) during Partex’s innings, which was largely steered by captain Irfan Sukkur (40) and Rakin Ahmed, who top-scored with an unbeaten 46 off 55 balls. Charith Asalanka, too, scalped two wickets while Kamrul Islam Rabbi claimed three to dismiss the opposition for 229 runs in 49.3 overs.Abahani Limited narrowed the gap with league leaders Gazi Group Cricketers after registering an eight-wicket win over Victoria Sporting Club at the KSOA Stadium in Fatullah. Abahani now have 14 points from nine matches while Gazi Group have 16 points from one game less.Victoria’s decision to bat first found little validation as only three of their batsmen reached double figures. Abahani medium-pacer Mohammad Saifuddin dealt them the first blow when he removed Rubel Mia for an eight-ball duck. While wickets kept tumbling at the other end, Mia’s opener partner Mohammad Arafat hung on till the 27th over, making 47 off 78 balls. Mohimenul Khan and Mehdi Mahbub were the other batsmen to manage double figures. It was Manan Sharma who cut through the middle and lower order to skittle Victoria for 130.Manan ended with figures of 4 for 21 in six overs, while Saifuddin, Ariful Hasan and Saqlain Sajib took two wickets apiece.Liton Das, who scored a century in Abahani’s previous game, got his side off to a solid start, scoring nine fours in his 38-ball 50. Shadman Islam, the other opener, also made a fifty, helping the team achieve the target with eight wickets and 175 balls to spare.Sharifullah’s all-round show – a 73-ball 82 coupled with a three-for – headlined Prime Doleshwar Sporting Club’s 29-run victory against Legends of Rupganj BKSP-4 Ground in Savar.Put in to bat, Sharifullah anchored Doleshwars’ innings with four crucial partnerships. Among those, his 49-run fourth-wicket stand with Marshall Ayub took Doleshwar close to 150 in 34 overs, before the latter fell for a 76-ball 60. Sharifullah then added 61 runs for the fifth wicket with Jaker Ali (30) and another 33 for the sixth wicket with Chathuranga de Silva before being undone by Raza Ali Dar in the 49th over. Even though left-arm spinner Mosharraf Hossain took five wickets, aided by Mohammad Sharif and Dar, who scalped two wickets each, Sharifullah’s knock had laid the base for Dolweshwar to post a total of 276.In reply, Rupganj started strongly, with the openers Hasanuzzaman (50) and Pinak Ghosh (19) adding 61 for the first wicket. Naeem Islam batted at a good pace and shaped the innings with an 82-run fifth-wicket stand with Yasir Ali but some tight bowling in the last 10 overs stemmed Rupganj’s run-flow as they were finally shut down for 247 for 6 in 50 overs. Sharifullah’s returns of 3 for 32 in his ten overs earned him the Player-of-the-Match award.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsSophie Devine smashed a record nine sixes•Getty Images

New Zealand have thrived on a set template this World Cup: rout the opposition for a low score and mow down the target. That template fetched New Zealand their third win and took them a step closer to the semi-finals. The result also meant Pakistan were the first team to be dumped out of the tournament after five defeats in as many matches.Offspinner Leigh Kasperek and seamer Hannah Rowe, who was on the verge of a hat-trick at one point, claimed combined figures of 19-2-57-5 to bundle Pakistan out for 144 – their fourth successive sub-150 score in the World Cup. Sophie Devine then made a mockery of the target, narrowly missing out on the fastest century in Women’s ODIs during her 41-ball 93. She, however, did break the record for the most sixes in an innings – hitting nine, including eight in the arc between midwicket and long-on. New Zealand sealed victory with eight wickets and 210 balls to spare and sounded out a stern warning to the other sides.Only hours after South Africa’s Lizelle Lee had smote seven sixes in Leicester to equal the record, Devine rewrote it. The carnage began when Devine clubbed seamer Kainat Imtiaz for three successive boundaries in the fourth over, after previous match-winner Rachel Priest had been dismissed. Devine meted out the same treatment to Diana Baig as New Zealand spliced 43 runs off the target in five overs. Devine continued on her merry way, reaching fifty off 27 balls. A hundred seemed a possibility before she checked a slog-sweep and top-edged a return catch to left-arm spinner Nashra Sandhu with New Zealand two away from the win.Amy Satterthwaite, who proved the ideal foil for the rampaging Devine, laid out the finishing touches with a slapped four. The mammoth win propelled New Zealand’s net-run rate from 1.520 to 2.301.Pakistan, though, had started positively with the openers Ayesha Zafar and Nahida Khan putting on 35 for the first wicket. They showed urgency and dispatched the bad balls before Kasperek broke through. She got one to drift away and had Zafar dragging a catch to mid-on. She did not turn the ball much, like Thursday, but kept drifting it sharply, making you wonder if batsmen would be better off treating her like a legspinner. In her next over, Kasperek bowled Marina Iqbal for a duck.The spotlight then turned to Rowe, who was making her World Cup bow. She looked anxious in her first over, erring in lines and lengths, but proved her worth in her second. She trapped Javeria Khan and Nain Abidi off successive deliveries that pitched on an in-between length and nipped back in. When 16-year-old Amelia Kerr bowled Nahida around her legs with a dipping legbreak, Pakistan were 56 for 5 in 16 overs.A full-blown collapse loomed, but Sana Mir, featuring in her 100th ODI, made a measured fifty to save Pakistan the blushes. She first added 28 with Iram Javed, the injured Bismah Maroof’s replacement, then 35 with wicketkeeper Sidra Nawaz.Mir had dug in before scoring her first boundary off her 32nd ball when she manufactured room and drilled seamer Lea Tahuhu past mid-off. She opened up further and brought up her third ODI fifty off 83 balls in the 42nd over. However, she departed in the next over when she flapped a pull back to Tahuhu, the bowler. Pakistan were eventually bowled out in 46.5 overs. The nightmare, though, wasn’t over for them. They woke up to Devine.

Billy Root has been rewarded for his promising performances for Nottinghamshire this season, particularly in T20 and one-day cricket, with a two-year contract – his first as a professional. Root, whose brother Joe is England’s Test captain, scored his maiden List A hundred this year and has been averaging 67 in the NatWest T20 Blast.His coach, Peter Moores, has been impressed with Root. “Billy worked very hard in the off season and used his bowling to help get him a chance in the side from where he could show what he could do with the bat as well,” Moores said.Moores has also been satisfied with Root’s consistency and believes that he can become an established allrounder if he keeps developing. “He’s been an effective player for us, particularly in one-day cricket, and we’re looking for him to now push on in both white and red ball cricket after working very hard for this opportunity,” Moores said.Root’s versatility has made him a useful option at Notts and helped him win a first contract at the age of 25. “He’s starting to put all three formats together,” Moores said.Root has had to work for his chance in the shadow of a more famous sibling. Billy followed Joe in coming through the Yorkshire academy. However, in 2011, Billy was released and went on to join the MCC Young Cricketers programme – which led to him appearing as a substitute fielder during the 2013 Ashes Test at Lord’s, briefly joining his brother on the field.Shortly after, Root began a degree in Sports Business Management at Leeds University but, although his hopes of a professional career appeared to be fading, he was playing regularly with Notts seconds, which gave him the encouragement to not give up.He subsequently made his County Championship debut at the back end of 2016. Then, at the start of this season, Root made his List A debut for Nottinghamshire against Worcestershire and scored 46 off 42 balls. He also made his T20 debut this year, against Yorkshire, and has featured in seven games ahead of this week’s quarter-final. The hope at Trent Bridge is that he can continue to progress in all three aspects of the game.Luke Fletcher, the fast bowler who sustained a season-ending head injury last month, has also been awarded a new two-year deal. Fletcher, 28, was hit in his follow through by a shot from Birmingham’s Sam Hain during a T20 Blast match and was advised by medical staff not to play again this year as he continues his recovery.

India coach Ravi Shastri has hinted that there are “surprises in store” from MS Dhoni “with the bat”. There has been a perception over the last few years that Dhoni has struggled to finish games. And while he wasn’t at his destructive best in the recently concluded 5-0 series victory over Sri Lanka, his ability to read the limited-overs game ensured he finished with 162 runs from four ODI innings, without being dismissed.With Dhoni being 36 now, and the next World Cup in 2019, India seem to have some time to help groom a replacement in less demanding circumstances but Shastri had quashed such arguments two weeks ago saying age was no factor in the debate when the skills haven’t faded. And on Tuesday, speaking to , answering a question on whether Dhoni should be in India’s World Cup plans, Shastri said, “If he keeps performing like that, how can you even think of anything else?””He is one of the fittest guys in the team. As far as wicketkeeping goes, in one-day cricket, he’s the best and let me tell you there’ll be some surprises in store with the bat. You watch. I have a feeling there is something around the corner. In Sri Lanka, you might have just seen a trailer.”Dhoni has been taking a few measures to tweak his game, ditching his preferred style of pads for the more orthodox kind and has been working on a more balanced knee flexion. Technical changes aside, Shastri said Dhoni’s hunger to perform for India has not faded yet. “A break from Test cricket has been very good for him. For going through all those years as a wicketkeeper across all three formats has been tough.”Another topic that has been debated is the resting of India’s lead spinners from the series against Australia starting on September 17. It is the second one in a row that doesn’t feature R Ashwin, though in this time he is playing for Worcestershire in the County Championship, and Ravindra Jadeja. Even with the chairman of selectors MSK Prasad insisting the offspinner was rested, there was speculation over whether he was dropped from the one-day side.Shastri said India were making sure Ashwin and Jadeja do not burn out.”You have a heck of a lot of cricket being played. You have about 25 Test matches in two years. You have a similar number of one-day games and a similar number of T20 games. Now you want a guy operating in a mode in a particular format that is very good from the team point of view. If you look at the No. 1 and 2 bowlers in the world, it’s Ashwin and Jadeja [sic three and two] and we are playing a heck of a lot of cricket, a lot of Test cricket. So if you start playing them across all formats, there will be burn out.”The World Cup is still two years away. There’s enough time. Every now and then they might play. But the emphasis should be on Test matches as far as they are concerned. They can play across all three formats. So how much you want to use a player here, as opposed to a different format, that is a decision the team management will have to take.”[India go to] South Africa for two months [in 2018], England two and a half months, Australia two and a half-three months, so you don’t want a burnout or more important than that, injuries. Already you would have seen in Sri Lanka, all 15 players played. You will see at least, across the one-day formats, just having a chat with the selectors, their intentions, I think are very good. Try as many guys who are on the fringe and then boil down to a point, six months, seven months to the World Cup, you have about 17-18 players to choose [from]. That will depend on current form, at that time form will be very important as well, and of course the fitness parameters.”

Saurashtra’s bowlers took 16 wickets on the second day in Rohtak to take control against Haryana, who need another 78 runs to make Saurashtra bat again. Shaurya Sanandia took six wickets on the day – four in the first innings and two in the second – while Kushang Patel and Jaydev Unadkat took four wickets each on the day, as Haryana were forced to follow on after being bowled out for 107. In their second innings, Haryana’s batsmen – barring Chaitanya Bishnoi (53*) – struggled once again, finishing the day on 93 for 6.Resuming from 271 for 7, Saurashtra were all out in the eighth over after adding seven runs to their overnight score. Ashish Hooda took two more wickets for Haryana to finish with figures of 6 for 61. Unadkat delivered a fiery opening spell for Saurashtra after that, dismissing the top order to reduce Haryana to 28 for 3. Sanandia then took the next three wickets as Haryana slipped further to 41 for 6. Rahul Tewatia (23) and Deepak Punia (18) then added 34 runs for the seventh, but after that partnership was broken by Sanandia, offspinner Kushang cleaned up the tail.Saurashtra asked Haryana to bat again, and the hosts’ batting faltered once more. Sanandia and Unadkat together reduced Haryana to 14 for 3 in their opening spell, before Chaitanya Joshi took control with a 97-ball 53. Joshi hung on till stumps, but three more wickets fell along the way as Haryana ended the day staring at a probable innings defeat.Mohammed Mudhasir’s five-wicket haul helped Jammu & Kashmir wrap up Rajasthan’s first innings in short time on the second day of their Group B clash at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. Robin Bist, the overnight centurion was dismissed after adding just eight runs to his tally, for 113, while his partner Tanvir-ul-Haq was sent back without scoring. Rajesh Bishnoi resisted with 43 at No. 7 before becoming Mudhasir’s fifth and final victim as Rajasthan, who resumed on 249 for 4, folded for 330. Medium-pacer Samiullah Beigh and Parvez Rasool, the J&K captain, split the rest of the wickets between them.J&K’s openers made a strong reply thereafter, putting on 109 before Shubham Khajuria was bowled by the medium pace of Tanvir-ul-Haq. Ahmed Bandy, Khajuria’s opening partner, remained unbeaten on 72 and took J&K to 150 for 1 at stumps in the company of Pranav Gupta.Jharkhand offspinner Sunny Gupta ripped through Kerala’s top order but a fifty from Mohammed Azharuddeen and Jalaj Saxena’s unbeaten 47 helped the hosts take a 48-run first-innings lead in Trivandrum.Sunny had dismissed Kerala’s top four batsmen with only 77 runs on the board but Azharuddeen and Sachin Baby led a brief recovery through a 43-run partnership. Once Azharuddeen was dismissed for 51 off 66 balls, Jalaj Saxena guided the lower order. Gupta went on to pick two more wickets to end the day with returns of 6 for 94.The day began with Jharkhand nine down for 200. It took Kerala’s bowlers just 14 deliveries to wrap up the innings for 202. Gupta was the last batsman dismissed, losing his stumps to seamer Sandeep Warrier.