Sreesanth

Picture Credit: Twitter

Kerala were in demolition mode as they overwhelmed Bihar in a Vijay Hazare Trophy clash on Sunday. Kerala after winning the toss struck early as their spearhead and resurgent seamer Sreesanth got the prized scalp of the openers Mangal Mahrour and S Gani for 1 and 0 respectively in his first over. The pacer returned in his second spell with the same steam and sent Shasheem Rathour and Vikas Ranjan packing for 3 and 10 respectively. On the back of his deadly spell, Bihar were reduced to a paltry 74/5 inside 19 overs. Babul Kumar was the lone warrior for Bihar as he struck a fine 64 off 89, comprising 6 fours and 3 sixes.

Sreesanth was at his absolute best as he ended up with figures of 4/30. It was a throwback of sorts as we saw the vintage Sreesanth running in with steam and rushing the batsmen with his nippy length balls. Jalaj Saxena supported him amply from the other end bagging figures of 3/30. It was a nightmare for the Bihar batters as Sreesanth and Jalaj Saxena were relentless from each end and gave absolutely no respite to them. Pacer MD Nidheesh also chipped in with a couple of wickets while giving away 30 runs.

Kerala batsmen stepped out with aggressive intent in a bid to shoot up their net run rate, and they did exactly that in grand fashion. Opener Vishnu Vinod departed early after his 12-ball 37 but Robin Uthappa was absolutely brutal as he struck a bashing 87 off just 32 balls dismantling the Bihar bowling attack with 4 fours and 10 towering sixes. Sanju Samson was also unbeaten on 24 off just 9 deliveries when Kerala chased down 149 in just 8.5 overs with 9 wickets in hand.

After Sreesanth’s splendid spells against Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, fans want him to feature in this year’s IPL. They’re urging franchises to bag the services of the former Indian spearhead so that they could see him in action once again after he was disgraced in the same tournament years ago.

Here is how fans reacted on Sreesanth's performance: