ERATTUPETTA, March 26: Indian Railways survived a scare before beating hosts Kerala 14-16, 15-11, 16-14, 15-6 to clinch the women's title in the first leg of the second National League championship, here today.Kerala, certainly not overawed by the reputation of their rivals, were off to a whirlwind start in the opening set. They took a 3-0 lead before Railways got their first point off a serve from Vaishali Phadke. However, Kerala committed a few errors at the net blocks and erratic smashes by their players let the rivals take the advantage and a 5-3 lead. Coach VC John's chiding at this juncture had an effect on the Kerala girls and they tightened their defence. Attackers Praseeda and Gisha George were on a rampage, breaching the Railway net blocks with enormous ease. Anu's drops and captain Prasanna's well-measured smashes gave the hosts a 11-7 lead.The home side appeared to have been carried away by their lead and their rivals narrowed it to 11-12. Kerala's complacency worked to the advantage oftheir opponents who levelled the scores at 13-13 off a Shanty Joseph serve. The teams were level again at 14-14. A weak net drop by Sangita gave Kerala a 15-14 lead and at the end of a long rally, captain Prasanna executed a well-measured centre-shot to clinch the set for Kerala. The set lasted 30 minutes.Railways dictated terms at the start of the second set and took a n early 4-9 lead. However, Kerala's resurgence began all on a sudden. It was the explosive Anu Jacob who brought about a change in the complexion of the game and Kerala and Kerala levelled at 9-9, off a Praseeda serve. But they couldn't maintain the tempo and surrendered the set at 11-15.After a shaky start in the third, Kerala were in an unrelenting mood and went on to lead 10-3 at one stage. However, Railways rallied brilliantly through Vaishali and Hemlata to reduce the margin to 10-11. An Anu drop gave the hosts a 14-13 lead but a Sangita shot that pierced the Kerala defence restored parity. Sindhu's ill-directed smash gave Railwaysthe lead, 15-14, and Mercy punched the ball far off the line to `gift' the set to Railways.The fourth set too was evenly matched. The teams went neck-and-neck at the start. But Kerala turned a little casual to give Railways a 9-6 lead after being 5-3 ahead at one time. They were nowhere soon after and watched helplessly as Railways showed no mercy.
