Sunil Joshi shatters Kerala in Ranji Plate Final

Bowling 30 overs of teasing left-arm spin, Sunil Joshi took six wickets for 62 runs against Kerala in their Ranji Trophy Plate Final game against Karnataka at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore on Tuesday.

Winning the toss, Kerala skipper Sunil Oasis opted to bat first, but his side's batting line-up could not deliver as it did in previous matches in this domestic season. Or perhaps Joshi's bowling was just too good; either way, Kerala found themselves bowled out for 190 in 77.3 overs, squandering the advantage that batting first usually imparts in Indian conditions.

The first three batsmen did well enough, with Sujith Somasunder (44) and MM Nathani (32) putting together 58 runs for the first wicket. C Hemanth Kumar at number three top-scored with 48 from 128 balls, with seven fours, but few other batsmen could stick around at the crease.

Kerala's last nine wickets fell for the addition of just 85 runs, with offie Udit Brijesh Patel giving slick support to Joshi and taking three for 42 in 19.3 overs in the process.

Karnataka batted through 10 overs of play before stumps without any mishap, with J Arunkumar and Barrington Rowland making 16 and six respectively.