Azharuddeen's 149* leads Kerala's slow march against Gujarat

Seven years after his maiden first-class hundred, Mohammed Azharuddeen struck his second, a stonewalling effort that fetched him an unbeaten 149, as Kerala ground Gujarat on a placid Ahmedabad deck.

Kerala were painfully cautious on the second day, just like they were on the first, adding 212 to their overnight 206 for 4. Their go-slow approach made it clear that they were keen on batting just once in their quest to enter their maiden Ranji Trophy final.

Kerala lost a wicket off the second delivery in the morning when Sachin Baby was snuffled out in the slips by Aarya Desai off the bowling of left-arm seamer Arzan Nagwaswalla. But for the next 62 overs, Gujarat were frustrated by Azharuddeen and Salman Nizar, whose last three knocks coming into this game were 112*, 44* and 150.

As the pair defied Gujarat's bowlers, they missed a rare opportunity to dismiss Azharuddeen on 74. A loud lbw shout off Nagwaswalla wasn't reviewed, with replays showing the ball pitched in line and would have hit the stumps. That was one of the very few chances Gujarat created.

The 149-run stand for the sixth wicket was broken when Nizar was out lbw to left-arm spinner Vishal Jayswal. After that, debutant Ahammed Imran, who crashed his first delivery in first-class cricket to the cover boundary, made 24 before nicking behind late in the day off Nagwaswalla, who had his third.

Azharuddeen and Aditya Sarwate saw off the day with no further damage as Kerala kept their hopes of getting past 500 alive as a tired Gujarat attack trudged off knowing they would need a massive batting effort to stay alive in the game.