SAXENA, BABY HIT UNBEATEN FIFTIES TO RESCUE KERALA

Bhubaneswar, Oct. 20: Jalaj Saxena (58 not out) and Sachin Baby (51 not out) put together 114 runs in their undefeated partnership to help Kerala overcome a jittery start against Hyderabad in their Ranji Trophy Group ‘B’ cricket match here on Thursday.

Opting to bat Kerala were reduced to five for one and then lost two wickets for two runs before lunch. But Baby and Saxena held fort and completed respective half-centuries to avert further slip-up.

Kerala were 223 for 4 at close Day One with Baby batting on 51 (6x4s), his second successive half-century of the season, and Saxena unbeaten on 58 (11x4s).

This was also Saxena’s second halfcentury of the season after his 69 against Jammu and Kashmir in Kalyani.

Kerala were tottering at 120 for 4 at tea but Saxena and Baby batted with patience to help them avoid any further danger.

Khajuria misses ton vs Andhra

In Mumbai, young opener Shubham Khajuria played a responsible innings of 90 and helped Jammu & Kashmir recover from a poor start on the opening day against Andhra Pradesh at the Brabourne Stadium.

Khajuria held one end after his team lost two quick wickets for only 18. — PTI BRIEF SCORES Kerala 223 for 4 in 90 overs (Jalaj Saxena 58 batting, Sachin Baby 51 batting, Rohan Prem 41).

Jammu & Kashmir 205 for 6 (Shubham Khajuria 90, Parvez Rasool 45; P. Vijay Kumar 2/40, Siva Kumar 2/32, Bhargav Bhatt 2/71) vs Andhra.