Ranchi, Dec 13 (PTI) Jharkhand spin twins Shahbaz Nadeem and Utkarsh Singh shared five wickets between them as Kerala failed to convert their strong start to be 276 for six on day one of their group C Ranji Trophy match here on Tuesday.

Left-arm spinner Nadeem took the key wickets of Sanju Samson (72) and Rohan Kunnummal (50) en route to 3/108, while off-spinner Singh ended the dogged resistance of Rohan Prem (79 off 201 balls) in his 2/43 as Jharkhand seized some late momentum going into the second day.

Promising opener Kunnummal, who recently got an India ‘A’ call-up for the Bangladesh tour, continued his fine form to slam one six and five boundaries in his 71-ball 50.

He and Rohan Prem put on a strong opening stand of 90 after electing to bat.

But Nadeem gave the breakthrough, trapping Kunnummal LBW at the score of 50, as Kerala went on to lose three wickets for the addition of eight runs on either side of lunch break.

Prem was at his resolute best but Singh cleaned him up just after the tea break. Samson took control of the proceedings after Prem’s departure in a partnership with Akshay Chandran.

But Nadeem once again triggered the collapse dismissing Samson to break their 33-run partnership. They went on to lose another quick wicket with Jalaj Saxena being run-out for zero.

Chandran (39 batting) and Joseph (28 batting) were in the middle at stumps after a 51-run unbroken partnership.

Brief Scores: At Ranchi: Kerala 276/6 in 90 overs (Rohan Prem 79, Sanju Samson 72, Rohan Kunnummal 50; Shahbaz Nadeem 3/108, Utkarsh Singh 2/43) vs Jharkhand.

At Bengaluru: Karnataka 148 for 6 in 40 overs (Nikin Jose 62; Diwesh Pathania 5/40) vs Services.

At Puducherry: Chhattisgarh 162 in 59 overs (Shahnawaz Hussain 43; Sagar Udeshi 4/36, Ankit Sharma 4/78). Puducherry 17/2 in 9 overs (Ajay Mandal 2/4).

At Porvorim: Goa 210 for 5 in 85 overs (Suyash Prabhudesai 81 not out, Snehal Kauthankar 59; Aniket Choudhary 2/37) vs Rajasthan.

Source: PTI News