Delhi spinners Sarandeep Singh and Rahul Sanghvi snared four wickets apiece as Kerala were finally bowled out for 371 in their first innings on the third day in the 'Elite' Group 'A' Ranji Trophy match in Delhi on Friday.
Overnight batsmen Ajay Kudwa's 123 and Sunil Oasis's unbeaten 63 prolonged Delhi's agony even though the hosts did well to restrict Kerala by dismissing the tailenders cheaply at the Harbaksh stadium.
In reply, Gautam Gambhir was unbeaten on 61 and Rajat Bhatia 39 not out in Delhi's score of 108 for no loss at stumps on the penultimate day of the four-day match.
Earlier, over 150 minutes of play was lost due to fog and dew on the pitch and the day's proceedings started well after the lunch.
Kudwa and Oasis added 127 runs for the sixth wicket before Sarandeep struck, removing the former, who offered a catch to Vijay Dahiya. Kudwa's 263-ball knock contained 14 boundaries.
Thereafter it wasn't difficult for the hosts as they dislodged the visitor's late-order with regular strikes from Sarandeep and left-arm spinner Rahul Sanghvi, both of whom returned with identical figures of four for 83.
As a draw looks imminent, after Kerala batted too slowly for their 371 and substantial time on the first three days was lost due to rain, fog and bad light, Delhi can at most add two more points from the game to their tally of six, that too if they take a first innings lead.
Scoreboard
Kerala (1st innings):
CM Deepak lbw Bhandari 21
S Somsunder c Gambhir b Sarandeep 18
Vipin Lal b Sarandeep Singh 35
Hemant Kumar c Bhandari b Sanghvi 46
Ajay Kudwa c Dahiya b Sarandeep 123
Sreekumar Nair lbw b Bhandari 34
Sunil Oasis not out 63
Suresh Kumar lbw b Sanghvi 3
N Ananthpadmanabhan c sub b Sanghvi 4
Prashanth c Dahiya b Sarandeep 1
Sreeshanth lbw b Sanghvi 6
Extras: (b-2, lb-7, nb-8) 17
Total: (all out, 163.2 overs) 371
Fall of wickets: 1-30, 2-42, 3-120, 4-152, 5-227.
Bowling: Bhandari 30-8-76-2, Gill 37-15-86-0, Sarandeep 44-12-83-4, Rajat Bhatia 13-4-24-0, Sanghvi 33.2-5-83-4, Jadeja 6-3-10-0.
Delhi (1st innings):
G Gambhir batting 61
R Bhatia batting 39
Extras: (lb-7, w-1) 8
Total: (for no loss, 20 overs) 108
Bowling: Sreeshanth 4-0-21-0, Prashanth Chander 4-0-27-0, Sreekumar 4-1-17-0, Oasis 5-0-20-0, Ananthpadmanabhan 3-0-16-0.