Two short,but J038;K8217;s Ian Dev Singh lives up to two great names

Ian Dev scored 16 fours and was easily the spectacle of the day.

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It was during the third over after tea that the noisy fans,who constantly reminded Kerala opener Abhishek Hegde of his unenviable waistline,fell silent. When Kerala medium pacer Sandeep Warrier ended local hero Parvez Rasools 65-ball stay at the wicket,the crowd was disappointed. Hegde could now field on the fence without being bothered.

Between the seventh over,when opener Adil Rishi edged the ball to Surendran and till the 66th over when Rasool fell for 40,the Kerala bowlers had nothing going their way. Two wickets fell in between,that of opener Ian Dev Singh and No.3 Bandeep Singh. Ian Dev missed his century by two runs and Bandeep fell short of his fifty by one run.

Ian Dev,despite protection being in place at deep mid-wicket,charged down the track and was caught on the ropes by Rohan Prem off the bowling of left-arm spinner CP Shahid. The man named after Ian Botham and Kapil Dev,however,had done enough to make those two all-rounders proud.

Costly error

Bandeep paid the price for responding late to Rasools call after the latter had firmly pushed the ball to cover. Robert Fernandez was quick and accurate with the throw,doing the rest.

The pair added 123 for the second wicket,a partnership that gave Jamp;K a solid foundation,helping them finish the first day at 312/4. Kerala,in spite of forcing Jamp;Ks batsmen to play and miss numerous times,had only four wickets to show at the end of the day.

To their credit neither Ian Dev nor Bandeep let the close calls affect them. They ducked under the short balls and were prepared to see off the first one hour during which the medium pacers got assistance from the wicket. Ian Dev didnt allow them to settle down by hitting the left-arm spinner Shahid for a straight six. He followed it up by driving him for a boundary. Ian Dev scored 16 fours and was easily the spectacle of the day.

Brief scores: Jamp;K 312 for 4 Ian Dev Singh 98,Bandeep Singh 49,Majid Dar 53,Hardeep Singh 51; Prasanth Parameshwaran 1/40,Sandeep Warrier 1/70 vs Kerala