Medium-pacer Chintan Gaja grabbed a five-wicket haul before Gujarat stretched their overall lead to a mammoth 587 runs against Goa in their Ranji Trophy quarter-final, in Valsad, on Saturday.
Riding centuries by skipper Parthiv Patel and Roosh Kalaria, Gujarat had posted a mammoth 602/8 in their first innings at the Sardar Patel Stadium.
The hosts had sent back both the Goa openers on day two itself. On the third day, led by the 25-year-old Gaja (5-19), Gujarat came up with a clinical performance to bowl out Goa for a meagre 173 in 57.5 overs.
However, skipper Parthiv Patel decided not to enforce the follow-on and at stumps, Gujarat had an overall lead of 587 runs.
With two days to go, Goa would need nothing short of a miracle to escape a humiliation.
Goa's overnight batsmen Smit Patel (31) and skipper Amit Verma (56) failed to convert their starts.
First, Gaja trapped Patel in front of the wicket and then Verma offered a simple catch to Axar Patel off Roosh Kalaria, as Goa slumped to 104/4.
Goa suffered a middle-order collapse and were tottering at 137/7, with three wickets falling at the same score.
Gaja and Arzan Nagwaswalla (2-51) then rattled the lower-order as none of Goa batsmen showed any fight.
Kalaria (2-47) also played his part to perfection, while Siddharth Desai (1-8) grabbed a wicket.
During the Goa innings, Parthiv became the fifth keeper to enter the 300-dismissal club in Ranji Trophy, joining Naman Ojha (351), Vinayak Samant (335), Mahesh Rawat (313) and Pinal Shah (311).
In the second innings, Gujarat openers Samit Gohel (70 not out) and Priyank Panchal (37) added 72 for the first wicket as their lead swelled beyond 500.
Gohel and Bhargav Merai (49 not out) kept attacking the Goa bowlers and at stumps, the hosts were comfortably placed at 158/1, a staggering overall lead of 587 runs.
Brief Scores: Gujarat 602/8 declared and 158/1 (Samit Gohel 70 not out, Suyash Prabhudessai 1-32) vs Goa 173 (Amit Verma 56, Chintan Gaja 5-19)
J&K bowl out Karnataka for 206, poised to take first innings lead
Jammu and Kashmir were in a good a position to take the crucial first-innings lead after bowling out Karnataka for 206 on day three of the Ranji Trophy quarterfinal in Jammu.
A full day's play was finally possible after not a single ball was bowled on day two due to unfit playing conditions following a brief spell of rain. Only six overs were possible on day one.
Resuming the day on 14 for two, Karnataka somehow managed to get past the 200-run mark with K Siddharth scoring 76 off 189 balls. Skipper Karun Nair was dismissed by Aquib Nabi on the second ball of the day.
It was a disciplined bowling performance from the home team with Nabi and his new ball partner Mujtaba Yousuf taking three wickets each.
J&K skipper and off-spinner Parvez Rasool ran though the tail, ending with three wickets including of Siddharth.
In response, J&K were 88 for two at stumps, needing another 119 runs to take the first-innings lead. With two days left in the game, the lead could prove decisive in JK's bid to make their first-ever Ranji Trophy semifinals.
At stumps on the third day, Shubham Khajuria was batting on 39 and Shubham Pundir on 16.
Brief scores: Karnataka 206 all out in 69.1 overs (Siddharth 76; Nabi 3/45, Yousuf 3/45). J&K 88/2 in 34 overs (Khajuria 39 batting, Pundir 16 batting)
Saurashtra dismiss Andhra for 136, take big lead
Saurashtra took control of their Ranji Trophy quarterfinal against Andhra by dismissing the hosts for 136 for a massive 283-run first- innings lead in Ongole, AP.
By stumps on the third day, the visiting team extended the advantage by reaching 93 for 2 in their second innings.
Resuming on overnight 40 for 2 in response to Saurashtra's first-innings total of 419, opener CR Gnaneshwar (43) and Ricky Bhui (28) put on 53 runs for the third wicket.
The two looked assured while negotiating the Saurashtra attack led by skipper Jaydev Unadkat, who was the best bowler for the visiting team, picking up 4 for 42.
Though they found runs hard to come by, Gnaneshwar and Bhui were willing to grind it out and scored when the bowlers erred in line and length.
Left-arm spinner Dharmendrasinh Jadeja broke through when he had Gnaneshwar caught behind by Avi Barot.
The 'keeper was in action again as he caught Bhui two runs later off Chirag Jani's bowling.
Dharmendrasinh Jadeja (3/27) and Jani (2/14) blew away the middle and lower-order to put Saurashtra in the driver's seat. As a result, Andhra capitulated from 117 for 4.
Unadkat finished things off by getting the wicket of Andhra captain K S Bharat (26). He had on Friday removed opener D B Prasanth (1) and Jyothisaikrishna (17) to put the home side in trouble.
Saurashtra did not enforce the follow-in despite the huge lead and suffered an early setback in the second innings when opener Harvik Desai (0) was bowled by Mohmmad Rafi off the first ball.
Kishan Parmar (12) too did not last long, falling to C V Stephen.
Barot (44 batting) and Vishvarajsinh Jadeja (35 batting) saw the team through without any further damage.
Brief scores: Saurashtra 419 all out in 146.5 overs (Chirag Jani 121, Perak Mankad 80, Vishvarajsingh Jadeja 73, Sheldon Jackson 50; Prithvi Raj Yarra 3/51, K V Sasikanth 3/149) and 93 for 2 in 33 overs (Avi Barot 44 batting, Vishvarajsinh Jadeja 35 batting) vs Andhra 136 all out in 78.2 overs (C R Gnaneshwar 43, Ricky Bhui 28, K S Bharat 26; Jaydev Unadkat 4/42, Dharmendrasinh Jadeja 3/27).
Bengal secure first innings lead against Odisha
Bengal rode on a disciplined pace attack to secure a first innings lead against Odisha in their Ranji Trophy quarterfinal clash in Tangi, Odisha.
The pace troika of Ishan Porel (3/72), Nilkantha Das (3/43) and Mukesh Kumar (3/51) shared nine wickets among them to bundle out Odisha for 250 to secure an 82-run first innings lead and put one foot in the semifinals.
At close on day three, Bengal were 79 for two, extending their overall lead to 161 with Abhishek Raman (4) and in-form senior batsman Manoj Tiwary (3) at crease.
With little on offer from the flat DRIEMS Ground in the outskirts of Cuttack, Odisha's four-pronged pace attack failed to make any use of the new ball as Bengal made a solid start to their second essay.
But it was due to some reckless batting by captain Abhimanyu Easwaran (30) and Koushik Ghosh (41), Bengal lost two wickets for 16 runs after putting on a 60-run opening partnership.
The duo was at its dogged best to see off the new ball as Bengal, who had put up a stunning first innings recovery from being 46/5, started off cautiously in their second essay.
It was only in the last hour's play when Odisha brought in spinner Govinda Poddar, the India A regular, Abhimanyu lost his concentration and stepped out for an expansive drive to clear the open off-side region but only to be caught at cover.
Having got a reprieve at slip by Biplab Samantray, Koushik Ghosh too could not convert his start and was bowled, after being deceived in flight while trying to step out to part-time spinner Anurag Sarangi.
Nevertheless, Bengal would find themselves in a comfortable position going into the penultimate day of the knockout fixture with eight wickets intact.
The pace-heavy Odisha attack sorely missed pacer Rajesh Mohanty, their second leading wicket taker with 32 wickets, as the likes of Basant Mohanty, Suryakant Pradhan failed to make any impact with the new ball.
The Bengal pace battery of Porel, Mukesh and newcomer Das stuck to their task, dismissing the remaining six batsmen for 99 runs after Odisha resumed day three at 151 for 4.
The first breakthrough however came almost an hour into the morning and it was Das who started it all by dismissing nightwatchman Debabrata Pradhan.
Mukesh then got into the act with a twin blow Samantray (3) and Rajesh Dhuper (10) before the lunch break.
The lanky pacer Porel then went through the tail as Odisha lost their last three wickets for 15 runs to concede the lead and give visitors' the edge.
Brief Scores: Bengal 332 and 79/2; 45 overs (Koushik Ghosh 41, Abhimanyu Easwaran 30). Odisha 250; 102.1 overs (Debasish Samantray 68, Shantanu Mishra 62, Subhranshu Senapati 46; Nilkantha Das 3/43, Mukesh Kumar 3/51, Ishan Porel 3/72).
