A five-wicket haul by leg-spinner Bhargav Bhatt (5 for 103) helped Baroda restrict Rajasthan to 394 before scoring 73 for 1 by stumps in their first innings on the second day of the Ranji Trophy Super League final in Vadodara on Wednesday.
Although Robin Bist (77), skipper Hrishikesh Kanitkar (61), Rashmi Parida (56) and Ashok Menaria (45) contributed with the bat for Rajasthan, none of them could convert the knocks into big scores at the Moti Bagh Stadium.
Resuming at the overnight total of 198 for 3, Tuesday's unbeaten batsmen -- Rohit Bist on 56 and Vivek Yadav on 4 -- mixed caution with aggression to give the visitors a good start on Day 2.
The duo put on a 50-run stand for the fourth wicket, Yadav being the dominating of the two. But he was the first to depart after hitting 27 off 56 balls, studded with four hits to the fence, falling to left-handed spinner Bhatt.
Bist could not capitalise on a chance he survived after being put down on 62 by A Karambelkar off Bhatt's delivery but the bowler did not let it prove costly for his team.
Bhatt was quick to add Bist's wicket to his kitty after a few overs, dismissing him for 77 off 228 balls, studded with five fours and a six. He was at the crease for 316 minutes.
However, Parida and Maneria consolidated the innings, the duo sharing a valuable 77-run partnership for the sixth wicket.
Even though the pair managed to keep the host bowlers quiet for a while, Bhatt struck to cut short Maneria's fine quickfire innings of 45 from 59 balls, including six fours and a six.
Maneria's dismissal triggered Rajasthan's collapse and even as Parida held firm, wickets kept falling at the other end.
From 346 for six, Rajasthan got bundled out for 394.
Parida was the last to fall, Bhatt doing the damage yet again. He scored an excellent 121-ball 56, inclusive of nine hits to the fence.
Besides Bhatt's five, Swapnil Singh chipped in with two for 54, while Sankalp Vohra (1 for 57) and Aditya Waghmode (1 for 33) took a wicket each.
Replying to Rajasthan's first innings total, Baroda openers Connor Williams (17) and Jaikishan Kolsawala put on a fine 63-run opening partnership before the former was caught by Aakash Chopra in second slip off Vivek Yadav's bowling.
At the end of day two, the match was evenly poised, with Kolsawala (46) and Kedar Devdhar (4) at the crease.
Scorecard
Rajasthan (1st innings): overnight 198-3
A Chopra lbw b Bhatt 34
V Saxena run out 31
H Kanitkar c Williams b Waghmode 61
R Bist b Bhatt 77
Vivek Yadav lbw b Bhatt 27
R Parida b Bhatt 56
A Menaria c Devdhar b Bhatt 45
R Jhalani b Vohra 9
D Chahar b Swapnil 8
Pankaj Singh b Swapnil 6
M Khatri not out 0
Extras: (B-13, LB-14, W-13) 40
Total: (in 147.1 overs) 394
Fall of wickets: 1-67, 2-73, 3-190, 4-240, 5-269, 6-346, 7-369, 8-384, 9-394.
Bowling: M Vahora 36-5-108-0, S Vohra 26-9-57-1, B Bhatt 42.1-14-103-5, A Karambelkar 8-4-12-0, Swapnil Singh 21-4-54-2, A Waghmode 14-3-33-1.
Baroda (1st innings):
C Williams c Chopra b Vivek 17
J Kolsawala not out 46
K Devdhar not out 4
Extras: (B-6) 6
Total: (For 1 wicket; 30 overs) 73
Fall of wicket: 1-63
Bowling: Pankaj Singh 6-2-16-0, D Chahar 8-2-31-0, M Khatri 8-1-13-0, Vivek Yadav 7-4-7-1, A Menaria 1-1-0-0.
