Mumbai skipper Wasim Jaffer overtook former teammate Amol Muzumdar (8237 runs) as the highest run-getter in Ranji Trophy while notching 82, as his team overhauled Punjab's modest first innings total of 226, on the second day of the Elite Division Group A match in Mumbai on Thursday.
Jaffer (8271) needed 50 runs to go past Muzumdar, who had overtaken Amarjeet Kaypee (7553) two years ago while playing for Assam, and reached the milestone during the course of his 187-minute stay at the crease at the Wankhede stadium in his 100th match.
Pankaj Dharmani of Punjab is third on the list with 7621 runs, ahead of Kaypee.
At stumps, the hosts were 308 for 5, an 82 runs lead over Punjab, who scored 226 in their first essay, with Ankit Chavan (17) and Ramesh Powar (30) at the crease.
Mumbai commenced Day 2 at 22 for no loss and progressed slowly before accelerating in the post-lunch session.
Apart from Jaffer, opener Kaustubh Pawar scored a slow 46 in over three-and-a-half hours to lay a good foundation.
Thereafter, Jaffer and Suryakumar Yadav, who scored a quickfire 64 at better than a-run-a-ball with ten fours and a six, capitalised on it.
Jaffer, who came in at the fall of opener Praful Waghela at 58, departed when the team needed just seven runs to take the lead, stretching out to the lanky Rahul Sharma and getting stumped.
His knock contained 11 fours and a six that came off 122 balls.
Jaffer and Yadav, who faced 56 balls in his 70-minute stay, put on a breezy stand of 56 for the fourth wicket in 13.3 overs to prevent Punjab from getting a grip in the match.
For Punjab, medium pacer Harmeet Singh became the pick of the bowlers with two for 41, while the other two wickets were shared by Navdeep Singh (1-35) and Baltej Singh.
Spinners Rahul Sharma (1-92) and Bipul Sharma (0-53) proved expensive.
"I'm very happy to have set the record but it's not a world record. I'm fortunate to have played for Mumbai for so many years and to have been a part of the Ranji Trophy winning team seven times. So many others have played in the tournament without being part of the Ranji winning teams," said Jaffer, who has scored over 15,000 runs in first-class cricket.
"Amol Muzumdar has been a great servant of Mumbai cricket. I have shared a lot of time with him -- in the slip cordon and also in the dressing room. I am happy (to have broken his mark) but also sad at the same time (that he is not part of our team now)," said Jaffer.
Jaffer rated his 98 in the second innings against Tamil Nadu when Mumbai beat the southern outfit in the final at home to win the Ranji Trophy eight seasons ago as his memorable innings in the national championship.
"I had made 98 against Tamil Nadu in the final in 2003. That was a memorable innings. I was a part of the Ranji Trophy winning team on seven occasions and winning the Ranji Trophy for the first time as a captain is the moment I cherish," he said.
Brief Scores:
Punjab 226 v Mumbai 308 for 5 in 87 overs (Wasim Jaffer 82, S Yadav 64, K Pawar 46; Harmeet Singh 2-41)
Robin Bisht's unbeaten ton hoists Rajasthan
A superb unbeaten ton by Robin Bisht (127) and fine bowling by Sumit Mathur (3-8) and Pankaj Singh (2-24) helped defending champions Rajasthan take control against Orissa in their Elite Group A match at the Sawai Man Singh stadium in Jaipur.
At close on the second day, Orissa were tottering at 76 for 6 in reply to Rajasthan first innings total of 423.
GB Podder (18) and DR Behra (7) were at the crease when stumps were drawn for the day.
The visitors still trail by 347 runs with four wickets in hand.
Resuming at 209-3, Rajasthan posted a mammoth 423, largely due to a superb effort by Bisht, who held the innings together and remained unbeaten on 127 made off 236 balls, studded with 16 boundaries.
The Garhwali lad showed tremendous application to surge to his fourth ton of the season and also become the highest run-getter so far taking his tally to 829.
"My job is to score runs and it is up to the selectors to decide that whether I am ready for the big scene," said the modest lad, who has played most of cricket in Delhi and then for Rajasthan.
Puneet Yadav (63) played the perfect foil to Bisht and their 124-run partnership for the fifth wicket helped the hosts reach 423 as the tail fell cheaply while trying to get some quick runs.
For Orissa, B Mohantey (4-104) was the most successful bowler, while Samantray and Mangraj grabbed two wickets each.
The visitors were left to play out the remaining 23 overs of the day but inept batting and some good bowling by the host bowlers saw them loose six wickets for 76 runs.
Brief Scores:
Rajasthan 423 (R Bist 127 not out, H Kanitkar 64, P Yadav 63; B Mohanty 4-104) vs Orissa 76-6 (S Mathur 3-8, Pankaj Singh 2-24).
Kaif's unbeaten ton puts UP in sight of lead
Mohammed Kaif's unbeaten 101 and his century-plus stand with Bhuvneshwar Kumar took Uttar Pradesh within 38 runs of snatching the crucial first innings lead against Karnataka on Day 2 of their Elite
Division Group 'A' match in Shimoga.
Restricting Karnataka to 314, Uttar Pradesh were 276 for 6 when stumps were drawn for the day at Jawaharlal Nehru National College of Engineering ground.
Like Karnataka on the first day (171-5), Uttar Pradesh too were floundering at 172 for 6 before Kaif, who batted with intent, and Bhuvneshwar (52 batting) reconstructed the tattered innings with an undefeated 104-run stand.
A lot will depend on this duo if Uttar Pradesh are to establish a sizeable lead and try to force a win in the match.
Only a victory will help them beat Punjab to a quarter-final berth from Group A.
Kaif struck fifteen boundaries during his 308-minute stay at the crease. Bhuvneshwar, who came away with a five-wicket haul, hit five boundaries.
Mokul Daggar (37) and Parvinder Singh (46) also contributed their mite.
Earlier, Karnataka, resuming at their overnight score of 300 for 7, barely lasted five overs in the first session as Bhuvneshwar ran through the lower order.
The talented seamer accounted for the scalp of S L Akshay (16), Stuart Binny (94) and N C Aiyappa (1) to put Uttar Pradesh back in the saddle.
Bhuvneshwar finished with impressive figures of five for 84.
Binny fell six runs short of what would have been his third hundred of the season, nicking Bhuvneshwar to skipper Suresh Raina. He hit 10 fours and two sixes during his 165-minute vigil at the wicket.
Brief Scores:
Karnataka 314 in 95 overs (Stuart Binny 94, Bhuvneshwar Kumar 5-84, Imtiyaz Ahmed 3-80) vs Uttar Pradesh 276-6 in 83 overs (Mohammad Kaif 101 batting, Bhuvneshwar Kumar 52 batting; Amit Verma 1-19, Sunil Raju 1-29).
Ganguly, Majumdar fifties propel Bengal
Skipper Sourav Ganguly scored his second half-century of the season before retiring due to a hamstring injury as Bengal cruised to only 21 runs shy of surpassing Baroda's total of 284 in their bid to save themselves relegation from Elite Group.
It was due to the former India captain's knock of 60 (120 balls, 9x4) and his 93-run fifth wicket partnership with comeback man Anushtup Majumdar (71 batting, 152 balls, 10x4) that Bengal amassed 264-4 at stumps on the second day.
Majumdar also added 73 valuable runs for the unbroken sixth-wicket stand with veteran all-rounder Laxmi Ratan Shukla (37 batting, 43 balls, 5x4) after Ganguly left the field at the team's total of 191.
However, no one can take away the fact that the Ganguly-Majumdar duo has now almost saved Bengal from the blushes of relegation after they were in a spot of bother at 98 for four with in-form Manoj Tiwary (9) dismissed cheaply.
It was certain that the law of averages would catch up with Tiwary, who has had scores of 132, 267 and 187 in the three earlier matches he played.
Ganguly hit his 89th first-class half century and has now scored 424 runs in the national competition.
Brief Scores:
Baroda 284 (Aditya Waghmode 62, Rakesh Solanki 73, Ashok Dinda 5-96, Sourav Ganguly 3-1) vs Bengal 264-4 (Anushtup Majumdar 71 batting, Sourav Ganguly 60 retd hurt, LR Shukla 37 batting).
Railways on verge of defeat, 18 more wkts fall on Day 2
It was 'Spinners' Day Out' once again at the Karnail Singh Stadium in Delhi as another 18 wickets fell on the second day of the Elite division match between Railways and Saurashtra.
At stumps, Saurashtra looked clear favourites to garner full points as Railways were 97 for 6 in their second essay while chasing a target of 247.
The target was not big but, on a pitch where it's the case of 'Hit Out or Get Out', the possibility of Saurashtra bowling four wicket-taking deliveries within first two hours seems more practical than Railways scoring another 150 runs.
After Ravindra Jadeja did the bulk of the damage in Railways' first innings, it was the turn of Kamlesh Makvana who to got a five-for as he ended the day with figures of 5-30.
Starting the day at 71-8, Railways could only add 10 more runs as they were all out for just 81.
Despite having a lead of 94 runs, Saurashtra didn't fare any better in the second essay and were all out for 152.
Only Jadeja showed intent of playing shots as he scored 45 in only 62 deliveries with three fours and two sixes. His partnership of 51 for the fourth wicket with Cheteshwar Pujara (32) was also important in the context of the match.
With 34 overs of the second day still left, the Railways batsmen might have let the tricky nature of the pitch play too much in their minds.
It was inexplicable the manner two of their well known grafters Shivakant Shukla (14) and skipper Sanjay Bangar (1) literally gifted their wickets to Makvana by needlessly charging out.
Only M Suresh (27 batting) had shown some stomach for fight but that might not be enough in the end.
Brief Scores:
Saurashtra 175 & 152 (Ravindra Jadeja 45, Nilesh Chauhan 2-15, KK Upadhyay 2-18) vs Railways 81 (Mahesh Rawat 33, Ravindra Jadeja 6-23) & 97-6 (M Suresh 27 batting, Kamlesh Makvana 5-30).
Haryana bounce back against Gujarat
Haryana bounced back in style after the opening day's shoddy show with a disciplined bowling performance as they bundled out Gujarat for 228 on the second day of their Elite division match in Surat.
Shot out for 207 after electing to bat, Haryana fought back to ensure that the home side did not take a substantial first innings lead.
Off-spinner Jayant Yadav and leg-spinner Amit Mishra scalped three wickets each while pacers Ashish Hooda and Mohit Sharma grabbed two apiece as Gujarat were all out for 228 to take a 21-run first innings lead.
In their second essay, Haryana were 61 for no loss at the draw of stumps with Nitin Saini and Rahul Dewan on 32 and 28 at the crease respectively. The visitors are 40 runs ahead overall with all the second innings wickets intact.
Resuming at 46 for 1, Gujarat suffered a jolt early in the morning with overnight batsman Niraj Patel out in the second ball of the day, bowled by Mohit Sharma, without any addition to his yesterday's individual score of 21.
The other overnight batsman Priyank Panchal added nine more runs to his yesterday's score of 22 before he was out seven overs later off Ashish Hooda at the team score of 66 for three.
None of the Gujarat batsmen could produce any substantial knock with Manprit Juneja top-scorering with a 42. Pratharesh Parmar and Jesal Karia contributed 35 and 37 respectively.
Brief Scores:
Haryana 207 & 61-0 in 22 overs (Nitin Saini batting 32, Rahul Dewan batting 28) vs Gujarat 228 in 78.3 overs (Manpreet Juneja 42; Jayant Yadav 3-47, Amit Mishra 3-52).
Tamil Nadu ride on Dinesh Karthik's ton
Riding on Dinesh Karthik's 156-run knock, Tamil Nadu posted 486 all out before reducing Madhya Pradesh to 50 for 3 to take control on the second day of their Elite division Group B match in Chennai.
After resuming on 294 for 4, Tamil Nadu dominated the day's proceedings completely with overnight batsman Karthik coming up with a brilliant performance.
The other overnight batsman Ramaswamy Prasanna though could add just a run to his previous day's score before getting out on 11.
Karthik, who resumed on 60, went on to complete his century and also put on a solid 93-run stand with Yo Mahesh (34) for the sixth wicket before adding another valuable 61 runs for the seventh wicket with Malolan Rangarajan (28).
At one stage it looked as if Tamil Nadu would cross the 500-run mark but after Karthik got out with the scorecard reading 452 for seven, it was just a matter of time before the hosts' innings folded.
Karthik's crucial runs came off 256 balls, studded with 20 hits to the fence and a six.
Madhya Pradesh seamers Ishwar Pandey (4-123) and Amarjeet Singh (3-107) were most impressive with the ball.
In reply to the home team's huge total, Madhya Pradesh got off to a poor start.
The top-order -- opener Naman Ojha (0), Mohnish Mishra (5) and Devendra Bundela (8) -- wilted under pressure to pacers Lakshmipathy Balaji and Jaganathan Kaushik, and debutant left-arm spinner Rahil Shah.
At stumps, opener Zafar Ali was unbeaten on 23 with Jalaj Saxena on 3.
Brief Scores:
Tamil Nadu 486 in 153.1 overs (Dinesh Karthik 156, Murali Vijay 83, Kaushik Gandhi 80; Ishwar Pandey 4-123, Amarjeet Singh 3-107) vs Madhya Pradesh 50-3 in 26 overs (Jaffer Ali batting 23; Laxmipathy Balaji 1-7, Jagannathan Rahil Shah 1-3).
