Tamil Nadu gained the upperhand on Friday, reducing Kerala to 151 for 9 after making 268 in the first innings on the second day of the Elite Group 'B' match.
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.
