A summary of Tuesday's play in the Ranji Trophy matches at various venues across the country.
An interesting finish is on the cards as Madhya Pradesh set Mumbai a tricky 280-run target with two days to go in their Ranji Trophy Group B match, in Indore, on Tuesday.
Madhya Pradesh dismissed Mumbai for 176 to take a 78-run first innings lead and then scored 201 in their second essay as 14 wickets fell on the second day of the contest.
Mumbai have two full days at their disposal to knock off the required runs and bag six points, going by how the batsmen have struggled to get big scores on this track it seems a big task.
Mumbai resumed the day on 74 for six and thanks to some gritty bating by their lower-order they managed more than 100 runs before folding.
Iqbal Abdulla (21), Shardul Thakur (18), Vishal Dabholkar (16) and Ankush Jaiswal (20 not out) all contributed in their team's cause.
Jalaj Saxena (5-66) and Ankit Sharma (5-80) took five wickets each for the hosts.
Saxena then top-scored for MP, scoring 79 runs while opening the innings. Others who batted well were skipper Devendra Bundela (42) and Harpreet Singh (22).
Thakur (3-33) and Abdulla (3-53) shared six wickets between them to allow Mumbai make a comeback into the match.
The onus is now on Mumbai’s batsmen to cash in on the opportunity.
Brief Scores:
Madhya Pradesh: 240 & 201 in 71.2 overs. (J Saxena 79, D Bundela 42; S Thakur 3-33)
Mumbai: 162 in 38.1 overs(J Bista 27, I Abdulla 21; J Saxena 5-66).
Harbhajan puts Punjab in command against UP
Kanpur: Skipper Harbhajan Singh's three-wicket burst in an eight-over spell left Uttar Pradesh reeling at 205 for eight in reply to Punjab's first innings total of 272 in their Group B Ranji Trophy encounter.
With another 68 runs required for the home team to ensure at least three points, Punjab are in the driver's seat at the moment courtesy their skipper's 3 for 31, which included the wickets of set batsmen Umang Sharma (49) and Akshdeep Nath (35), who had added 50 runs for the fourth wicket.
The senior off-spinner also accounted for wicketkeeper-batsman Ekalavya Dwivedi (27) caught by close-in fielder Mandeep Singh.
The worst part about UP's batting was that none of their batsmen converted their starts. Whether it was Himanshu Asnora (34) at the top or the trio of Umang, Akshdeep and Elalavya -- everyone was guilty of playing to the wrong line.
Left-arm medium pacer Deepak Bansal (2-22) bowled to tight lines while seamer Siddharth Kaul (2-71) also chipped in with useful wickets, including the prized one of opposition captain Suresh Raina (0), who was clean bowled.
Earlier, Punjab added 24 runs to their overnight score of 248 for eight before being bowled out for 272 in their first innings.
Brief Scores:
Punjab: 272 in 90.3 overs (Mayank Siddhana 85, Gitansh Khera 74, Praveen Kumar 4-81).
Uttar Pradesh: 205-8 in 71 overs (Suresh Raina 0, Umang Sharma 49, Harbhajan Singh 3-31).
Delhi 60-1 in reply to Karnataka's 542
Hubballi: Defending champions Karnataka maintained their grip over Delhi in a Group A Ranji Trophy encounter after posting a mammoth first innings score of 542.
At stumps on the second day, Delhi were 60 for one, with skipper Gautam Gambhir holding fort on 33 with Dhruv Shorey (batting 4) for company.
Gambhir faced 82 balls and hit three boundaries in the process.
The only Delhi wicket to fall in the 29 overs they faced was Unmukt
Chand (22), who edged one off Sreenath Aravind to CM Gautham behind the stumps.
Earlier, Karnataka started the day at 358 for three and added another 184 runs to their total score before they were all out in 149 overs.
Their notable scorer on the second day was Manish Pandey, who stroked his way to 81 off 141 balls, including 13 boundaries. The other useful contribution came from skipper R Vinay Kumar, who hit a quickfire 50, including nine fours, off 60 balls.
Delhi left-arm seamer Pradeep Sangwan bowled 35 overs, taking 3 for 102.
The best figures were recorded by seamer Navdeep Saini (3-85 in 32 overs). Pawan Suyal, another left-armer (2-123 in 31 overs), was a touch expensive.
The maximum overs were sent down by
Left-arm spinner Manan Sharma bowled the maximum over, 41 overs, taking two wickets for 147 runs.
Brief Scores:
Karnataka: 542 in 149 overs (Robin Uthappa 148, Mayank Agarwal 118, Manish Pandey 81; Navdeep Saini 3-85, Pradeep Sangwan 3-102).
Delhi: 60-1 in 29 overs (Gautam Gambhir batting 33, Unmukt Chand 22, Dhruv Shorey batting 4).
Asnodkar hits double ton as Goa declare on 552-5
Jammu: Swapnil Asnodkar hit a double century as Goa declared their first innings on 552 for five and then reduced Jammu & Kashmir to 43 for two on the second day of their Ranji Trophy Group C match.
Resuming on 263 for one, overnight batsmen -- Asnodkar, who was on 74, and Sagun Kamat, on 57, -- went on to put up a solid 213-run partnership for the second wicket to take the team past the 400-run mark.
Asnodkar scored 232 off 360 deliveries; his knock was studded with 28 fours and three sixes, while Kamat hit a 292-ball 105, which included 11 hits to the fence and a six.
Darshan Misal (41) also chipped in with crucial runs.
Parvez Rasool (4-169) was the pick of the J&K bowlers.
Replying to Goa's massive first innings total, J&K lost both their openers cheaply and were reeling at 9 for two.
At stumps, Pranav Gupta was unbeaten on 25 with Ian Dev Singh, on 13.
Brief Scores:
Goa: 552 for 5 decl (Swapnil Asnodkar 232, Sagun Kamat 105; Parvez Rasool 4-169).
J&K: 43 for 2 in 11 overs.
Haryana trail Rajasthan by 105 runs
Lahli: Haryana reduced their deficit to 105 runs after conceding a big first-innings lead to Rajasthan in their Group A Ranji Trophy match.
When the stumps were drawn on the second day at the Bansi Lal Stadium, Haryana were 62 for no loss in their second innings.
Earlier, replying to Haryana's meagre first-innings total of 112, Rajasthan were all out for 279, easily managing to take the crucial lead.
Ashok Menaria (47), Puneet Yadav (46) and Siddharth Dobal (43) were the main contributors for Rajasthan.
Medium pacer Mohit Sharma was Haryana’s most successful bowler, returning impressive figures of five for 56.
Ashish Hooda and Harshal Patel picked up three and two wickets respectively.
At close of play, Nitin Saini (42) and Chaitanya Bishnoi (20) were going strong at the crease.
Brief Scores:
Haryana: 112 & 62-0 in 19.0 overs
Rajasthan: 279
Saurashtra sniff victory against Kerala
Malappuram (Kerala): Spinners Dharmendrasinh Jadeja and Vandit Jivrajani grabbed six and four wickets respectively as Saurashtra sniffed victory in their Ranji match against Kerala on Tuesday.
Saurashtra, who resumed Day 2 on 55 for 6, conceded a nine-run first innings lead to Kerala as they were all out for 157 in the post-lunch session on the third day in reply to the home team's first innings total of 166.
The second day's play, which saw 15 wickets fall, turned out to be an eventful one with Saurashtra skittling out Kerala for 105 in just 41 overs, with left-arm spinner Jadeja leading the charge with a haul of 6 for 59.
Jadeja was well supported by off-spinner Jivrajani, who returned figures of 4-31, as the visiting bowlers spun a web around Kerala batsmen in the home side's second innings.
Only four Kerala batsmen could cross double digit figures, number eight Akshay Chandran top-scoring with an unbeaten on 32.
Set a target of 115 for victory, Saurashtra ended the day on 16 for one in nine overs, with opener Mohsin Ahmedbhai Dodia dismissed for one.
The other opener, Avi Barot, and wicketkeeper Sagar Jogiyani were batting on eight and seven respectively when stumps were drawn for the day.
Saurashtra now need 99 more runs to win the match with nine second innings wickets in hand.
Brief Scores:
Kerala: 166 & 105 in 41 overs (Akshay Chandran not out; Dharmendrasinh Jadeja 6-59, Vandit Jivrajani 4-31).
Saurashtra: 157 in 60.4 overs (Samarth Vyas 54 not out; Karaparambil Monish 6-81) & 16-1 in 9 overs.
Railways lead Andhra by 262
New Delhi: Karn Sharma returned five-wicket haul before Ashish Yadav cracked an unbeaten fifty as Railways dismissed Andhra Pradesh for 114 and then scored 194-8 in their second innings on the second day of their Group
B match at the Karnail Singh stadium.
On a day when as many as 14 wickets fell, Railways extended their lead to 262 runs, with two wickets remaining.
At draw of stumps, Ashish (55) was at the crease and giving him company was No 10 batsman Sagar Mishra (11).
Resuming their first innings on 62 for 4, Andhra folded for just 114 in reply to Railways' first innings total of 182, thanks to some superb bowling from Sharma (5-30), who was nicely supported by Anureet Singh (3-25) and Ashish (1-31).
Railways too found the going tough in their second innings as they lost wickets at regular intervals. Ashish was their highest-scorer, while opener SP Wakaskar (38) and AN Ghosh (23) also contributed.
It was Andra's B Sudhakar (4-49), who made life difficult for the Railway batsmen as he claimed four wickets – V Cheluvaraj (18), Ghosh, M Rawat (6) and AA Nandi (5).
C Sneha Kishore (2-54), D Siva Kumar (1-18) and DB Prasanth (1-22) also contributed to the team’s cause.
Brief Score:
Railways: 182 & 194-8 in 64 overs (A Yadav batting 55; B Sudhakar 4-49).
Andhra: 114 in 50 overs (D B Prasanth 49; K V Sharma 5-30).
Arun Karthik hits unbeaten ton for Assam
Pune: Having lost a day's play due to bad light, Assam rode on Arun Karthik's unbeaten century to score 223 for four in their Group A Ranji match against Maharashtra.
After the visiting side won the toss, Karthik struck a watchful 105 off 225 balls with the help of 11 fours and a six.
Skipper Gokul Sharma contributed and unbeaten 59 off 103 balls, hitting 10 boundaries in the process, at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium.
During his knock, Karthik shared 75 runs for the fourth wicket with Amit Verma (32). He was the involved in an unfinished 130-run stand for the fifth wicket with Gokul as Assam continued their impressive run in the current domestic season.
The start was far from ideal for the visitors as they lost three wickets on the same score of 18 to Samad Fallah and Anupam Sanklecha. But then followed the repair work that frustrated the hosts.
Both Fallah and Sanklecha picked up two wickets each.
Brief Score:
Assam: 223-4 in 81 overs (Arun Karthik batting 105, Gokul Sharma 59; Samad Fallah 2-47, Anupam Sanklecha 2-39 v Maharashtra.
