Tamil Nadu gained the upperhand Friday, reducing Kerala to 151 for 9 after making 268 in the first innings on the second day of the Ranji Trophy Elite Group 'B' match here.
The home team bowlers came to the fore, striking at regular intervals to leave Kerala 117 runs behind with one wicket standing.
Left-arm medium-pacer T Natarajan and left-arm spinner Rahil Shah with three wickets each did most of the damage while R Sai Kishore took two wickets.
Earlier, debutant M Shahrukh Khan (92 not out) missed out on a well-deserved ton as the hosts collapsed from 249 for 6 to 268 all out.
For Kerala, P Rahul was the only one to make a significant contribution with 59.
Late resistance from Sijimon Joseph (28 batting) meant that Tamil Nadu would have to wait till tomorrow to wrap up the innings.
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Tamil Nadu, overnight 249 for 6, could only add 19 runs as Sandeep Warrier (5 for 52) and Basil Thampi (4 for 62) shared the four wickets to fall this morning.
Mohammed who added 69 runs with Shahrukh Khan fell to a catch by wicket-keeper Vishnu Vinod to give Warrier his fourth wicket. Warrier then sent back R Sai Kishore (5) to earn a five-wicket haul.
Thampi dismissed Rahil Shah (0) and T Natarajan (0) in the 98th over to end Tamil Nadu's innings.
In response, Kerala suffered an early blow when the consistent Jalaj Saxena was bowled by Natarajan for 4.
Kerala then kept losing wickets.
Tamil Nadu's fielders backed their bowlers and skipper B Indrajith took a brilliant catch at slip to send back Vishnu Vinod for a duck off Sai Kishore's bowling.
Brief scores: Tamil Nadu 268 in 98 overs (M Shahrukh Khan 92 not out (155b, 8x4, 1x6), B Indrajith 87, M Mohammed 29, Sandeep Warrier 5 for 52, Basil Thampi 4 for 62) vs Kerala 151 for 9 in 75 overs (P Rahul 59 (116b, 5x4, 1x6), Sijomon Joseph 28 batting, T Natarajan 3 for 42, Rahil Shah 3 for 32).
At Mohali: Himachal Pradesh 390 all out in 145.1 overs (R R Dhawan 61, N R Gangta 58, A Kalsi 82, M Dagar 71, Sandeep Sharma 5 for 101) vs Punjab 75 for 9 in 30 overs (M J Dagar 4 for 22).
At Indore: Hyderabad 124 all out in 35.3 overs (Himalay Agarwal 69 not out, Avesh Khan 7 for 24) vs Madhya Pradesh 539 for 4 in 136 overs (Ajay Rohera 255 batting, Rajat Patidar 51, Yash Dubey 128 batting).