Ranji Trophy: Bengal look for hat-trick of wins as Kerala host table-toppers on seamer-friendly track

If momentum is important in sports, then both Kerala and Bengal will carry it in abundance when they face each other in an Elite Group C Ranji Trophy match at the KCA ground, Mangalapuram, in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday.Fresh from their innings victory against Odisha in their last match, Kerala will have a job in hand to stop an upbeat Bengal who will be looking for a hat-trick of wins after beating Delhi and Services to lie at the top of the table with 12 points in their group.However, Bengal will look for an improved show from their batters after they failed to put up enough runs on board against Services. It was their spinners who did the job for them then, but the KCA ground is unlikely to assist the spinners much. In that case Bengal might go in with three pacers, with Mohammed Shami once again taking up the new ball after the former India pacer sat out in the last game. He will expect good support from his brother Mohammed Kaif and Suraj Singh Jaiswal. Toss is likely to play an important role on a surface which offers early assistance to the pacers.Bengal coach Laxmi Ratan Shukla will look for more runs from the blades of Sudip Chatterjee and opener Ankur Pal as Bengal need to put up a competitive total against a good batting unit that features Sachin Baby, Vishnu Vinod and Mohammed Azharuddin. Much will depend on how the ever-dependent Jalaj Saxena contributes both with the ball and bat.Shahbaz Ahmed will once again play a key role for Bengal, after the all-rounder made an immediate impact on returning from an injury to play his first match in months against Services.However, the weather might play spoiler, with forecasts of occasional rain, which ruined the teams’ practice sessions, over the next few days. But the possibility of a complete washout is remote, and both sides are preparing for a stop-start game.