THE GOAN NETWORK
PANAJI
In the ongoing Vijay Mercant Trophy U-16 (South Zone) played at Shimoga, Goa are on the verge of picking up successive three points on virtue of a first innings lead in their fourth round fixture against Kerala at JNNC Ground, Shimoga on Thursday.
On winning the toss and electing to field, Goa dismissed Kerala for 177 in 63.1 overs. For Kerala, captain Neeraj top-scored with 46 (139b, 5x4) and Nikhil Jose (32) and Aravind KS (26) made invaluable contributions. The Goa attack was led well by the ever-consistent right-arm medium pace opening bowlers, Manchit Naik who took 3 for 55 in 25 overs and Ruthvik Naik who took 3 for 67 in 23 overs. So far in the tournament, these bowlers have taken 12 wickets apiece.
In reply, Goa at draw of stumps on Day 2 was level on scores with 177 for 5 in 81 overs. Wicket-keeping Captain and lower middle-order batsman Digesh Raikar was unbeaten on 66 (114b, 12x4) with Salil Korde yet to open his account. Middle-order batsmen Kaushal Singh (32) and Yuvraj Palkar (30) along with opener Omkar Deshbhandari (22) made significant contributions as well.
For Kerala, Monukrishna claimed 4 for 63.
