Assam take first-innings lead over Kerala

Pritam Das (4/74) and J Syed Mohammad (3/56) shared seven wickets between them to help Assam bundle out Kerala for 266 and take a 78-run first innings on the third and penultimate day of their Group C Ranji Trophy cricket match here today.
Assam, who were all out for 344 in their first innings, reached 26 for no loss in their second essay at stumps on day three with Pallavkumar Das (15) and Kunal Saikia (11) on the crease.
Earlier, resuming on 52 for four, Kerala overnight batsman Amit Verma, who started the day on nine, went on to score 142 off 263 balls studded with 19 fours and four sixes, but none of the other batsmen could contribute significantly.

The other overnight batsman Sachin Baby, resuming on one, added another 31 runs before getting out on 32.
Brief scores:
Assam: 344 & 26 for no loss in 10 overs (Pallavkumar Das batting 15).
Kerala: 266 all out in 97.1 overs (Amit Verma 142, Sachin Baby 32; Pritam Das 4/74, J Syed Mohammad 3/56).