A magnificent 309 not out by Rohit Sharma helped Mumbai post a mammoth 648 for 6 declared on the second day of their final Group A match against Gujarat in Mumbai on Wednesday.
Rohit, unbeaten on 145 overnight, extended his fourth-wicket partnership with Mumbai's other centurion Sushant Marathe (144) to 342, and also shared an unbroken seventh-wicket partnership of 150 with stumper Vinayak Samant (50 not out) to enhanced his team's chances of a place in the last eight stage of the tournament.
Rohit's runs came at a brisk pace as well, his 309 taking just 458 balls and comprising a whopping 38 boundaries and four maximums.
Resuming at 352 for three, Mumbai batted for two sessions to virtually take the game away from the visitors.
The fact that the Gujarat bowlers bowled a negative line also ensured wickets were hard to get.
The visitors ended the second day on 120 for one, with Rikin Chauhan unbeaten on 43 and Niraj Patel giving him company on 32.
Mumbai's lone success with the ball came in the form of Jay Desai (29), who nicked a Dhaval Kulkarni delivery straight to Wasim Jaffer in second slip.
Brief scores:
Mumbai: 648-6 decl (R Sharma 309 not out, S Marathe 144, A Rahane 56.
Gujarat: 120-1 (R Chauhan 43 not out).
Orissa tighten noose around HP's neck
Dharamshala: Halhadar Das slammed a blistering 144 as Orissa carved out a 191 first innings lead and claimed two late wickets to tighten the noose around Himachal Pradesh's neck in their Ranji Trophy Super League Group A match.
Resuming Day 2 on 55 for two, Orissa rode on Das's 155-ball 144 and Niranjan Behera's patient 53 to put up 316 in their first innings, 191 ahead of HP's first innings effort of 125.
Mohinderraj Sharma (5-102) did shine with the ball for the hosts, but it was not enough in the end.
In their second essay, HP were 47 for two at stumps, with Vinit Indulkar (9) and Mukesh Sharma (14) in the middle and the spectre of defeat looming large over them.
The day belonged to Das, who played with gay abandon as he put the HP bowlers to the sword. He and Behera added 90 runs for the fourth wicket to eclipse the HP total.
Das's fluent knock was studded with 20 fours besides three sixes before he was trapped by Kuldeep Diwan.
Brief scores:
Himachal Pradesh: 125 (Dhiraj Singh 4-29, B Mohanty 3-36) & 47 for 2.
Orissa: 316 (H Das 144, N Behra 53; Mohinderraj Sharma 5-102).
Punjab 154-4 in reply to Railways' 276
New Delhi: Railways struck two quick blows to deny Punjab the second day's honours, as the visitors finished on 154 for four in reply to the home team's first innings of 276 all out in their Ranji Trophy Super League Group A match.
Punjab were cruising at 123 for two before Railways dismissed Mayank Sidhana (54) and captain Pankaj Dharmani (0) in the space of three overs in the last hour of play at the Karnail Singh stadium.
Wicketkeeper Uday Kaul (46 off 158 balls) and Taruwar Kohli (13) were at the crease when stumps were drawn after Punjab faced 69 overs.
Punjab were jolted early in their reply, with opener Ravi Inder Singh (1) being dismissed in the second over by Sanjay Bangar at the team score of six.
The other opener, Sunny Sohail (30), fell to Railways captain Murali Kartik. With the scoreboard reading 37 for two, Mayank Sidhana and Kaul steadied the innings with an 86-run stand for the third wicket.
Earlier, resuming at the overnight score of 191 for six, Railways posted 276 mainly due the efforts of Karan Sharma (59 not out), who completed his half century adding 55 to his overnight four.
The home team added 85 runs to their overnight 191 for six from the 32 overs they faced on Wednesday.
Karan Sharma, who faced 139 balls and hit six fours, held one end together but with wickets tumbling around him at regular intervals, he soon ran out of partners.
For Punjab, Rahul Sharma, who took five wickets on Tuesday, added another on Wednesday. Rajwinder Singh got two wickets and Sarabjit Ladda one.
Brief scores:
Railways: 276 (Faiz Fazal 87, Karan Sharma 59 not out; Rahul Sharma 6-92).
Punjab: 154-4(Mayanak Sidhana 54, Uday Kaul 46 not out; Karan Sharma 2-39).
Bengal in command against Delhi
Kolkata: Bengal skipper Laxmi Ratan Shukla smashed a strokeful century and was given a good support by Ashok Dinda as the hosts took command against Delhi in their last round Ranji Trophy Super League Group B match at the Jadavpur University ground in Salt Lake on Wednesday.
Batting at No 7, Shukla scored 137 from 132 balls and engaged himself in an entertaining 129 runs eighth-wicket partnership with Dinda (41) as Bengal amassed 522 in their first innings.
Desperate for three points -- from the first innings lead -- for a
Quarter-final berth, Delhi started shakily, losing both the openers for 10, but thereafter Mithun Manhas (24 batting) and Aditya Jain (34 batting) did the repair work as the visitors ended the second day with 68 for two.
Ranadeb Bose took both the wickets, giving away 20 from seven overs, as Dinda, fresh from his India T20 debut, impressed with his fiery opening spell and kept the pressure.
Earlier, resuming at their overnight total of 265 for four, with Sourav Ganguly and Wriddhiman Saha unbeaten on 110 and 106 respectively, the duo tried to carry on from where they left on the opening day before Pradeep Sangwan got the first breakthrough by dismissing the Bengal glovesman when the new ball was taken, after 81.3 overs.
Having come together with Bengal in deep trouble with 43 for four on Day 1, the duo added 249 runs for the fifth wicket. Saha scored 120 from 130 balls, inclusive of 18 boundaries.
Ganguly was unruffled and showed aggression, hitting boundaries at ease. He added 55 runs with skipper Shukla before he became the victim of Sangwan.
Ganguly added 42 runs to his overnight total, hitting eight boundaries on Wednesday before he was caught at extra cover by Delhi stand-in captain Rajat Bhatia.
The former India captain scored 152 from 200 balls, inclusive of 19 boundaries and two sixes.
Poor co-ordination between Shukla and Sourashish Lahiri brought the latter's innings to an end after he was run out with the score reading 358 for seven.
When it seemed that Bengal's innings would fold, Dinda played a perfect ally to his captain, smashing five boundaries and two sixes en route to a career-best 41.
Shukla too was at his aggressive best, his hundred coming from 90 balls. He hit a boundary and a six to notch the three figure mark in style.
Parvinder Awana (3-105) ended the 129-run partnership, scalping Dinda, while Sangwan (4-113) brought Shukla's innings to an end.
Debutant left-arm spinner Vikas Mishra took his maiden Ranji wicket in the form of Iresh Saxena (2) as Bengal folded for 522 in 129.1 overs.
In reply, Delhi's openers -- Ankur Julka and debutant Rahul Yadav -- found the going tough, the former departing for 1 from 17 balls. Yadav (7) followed soon for a forgettable maiden outing.
Brief scores:
Bengal: 522 (S Ganguly 152, W Saha 120, L Shukla 132; P Sangwan 4-113)
Delhi: 68-2
Williams, Gaekwad tons lift Baroda
Pune: Centuries from Connor Williams (129) and Shatrunjay Gaekwad (103 not out) put Baroda in command as they took the first innings lead by reaching 300 for 5 on the second day of their Ranji Trophy Super League Group B match.
Resuming at 11 for no loss in reply to Maharashtra's first innings 288 all out, Baroda lost opener Hemant Devdhar (2) in the third over of the morning, the batsman adding just one to his overnight score.
Jacob Martin then fell for 25 as Baroda were reduced to 48 for two before Williams and Gaekwad shared a 214-run stand for the third wicket to resurrect the innings.
The massive partnership was broken by Samad Fallah when he removed Williams who hit 15 fours and a six in his 251-ball knock.
Once Williams was out in the last hour of the day, two Baroda wickets fell quickly as Yusuf Pathan (2) and wicketkeeper Pinal Shah (5) were dismissed cheaply.
At stumps on day two, Abhimanyu Chauhan unbeaten on 10 with centurion Gaekwad at the other end.
For Maharashtra, Fallah took three wickets for 57 runs while Kishor Bhikane scalped two by conceding 76 runs.
Brief scores:
Maharashtra: 288 (H Khandiwale 111; I Pathan 3-48, M Vahora 3-45).
Baroda: 300-5 (Connor Williams 129, Shatrunjay Gaekwad 103 batting; Samad Fallah 3-57).
Karnataka take 1st innings lead vs Saurashtra
Karnataka rode on Ganesh Satish's century to take a 168-run first innings lead against Saurashtra in their Ranji Trophy Super League Group B match.
Resuming at 80 for two, Karnataka's middle order clicked in unison as three batsmen other than Satish (120) also hit half centuries to take their side to 384 all out in reply to the home team's 216.
Amit Verma (68), Manish Pandey (55) and captain Robin Uthappa (62) chipped in to ensure that Karnataka, who have already qualified for the quarter-finals, take the first innings lead.
Satish, who was involved in a 125-run stand for the fourth wicket with Amit Verma, struck 17 fours and three sixes in his 163-ball knock while Uthappa took just 56 balls for his 62, which was studded with 12 fours.
After Satish's dismissal, Uthappa and Pandey shared a 103-run partnership for the sixth wicket to take the score past 350.
For Saurashtra, Vishal Joshi (4-77) was the most successful bowler while Sandeep Jobanputra claimed two Karnataka batsmen.
In their second essay, Saurashtra were 57 for no loss, with openers Chirag Pathak (47) and Sagar Jogiyani (10) at the crease at draw of stumps.
Brief scores:
Saurashtra: 216 (S Jobanputra 52 not out; S Aravind 4-84) and 57-0.
Karnataka: 384 (G Satish 120, A Verma 68, R Uthappa 62, M Pandey 55; V Joshi 4-77).
TN make strong reply against Hyderabad
Hyderabad: Tamil Nadu came back strongly on the second day as they posted 189 for 1 in reply to Hyderabad's 347 in their Ranji Trophy Super League Group A match.
The visitors, already qualified for the quarter-finals, first dismissed six Hyderabad batsmen for the addition of 78 runs in 28.5 overs and then hit 189 for one in the 57 overs in the day.
At draw of stumps, opener Abhinav Mukund was batting on 66 while Arun Karthik was giving him company on 49.
Tamil Nadu began their innings in the limited-overs mode, with Srikkanth Anirudha (70) and Abhinav smashing 96 runs for the opening wicket in just 22.3 overs.
Anirudha was in cracking form, scoring 70 from just 64 balls, inclusive of 12 fours.
In total contrast, Mukund consumed 187 balls for his unbeaten 66, which included 11 boundaries.
Earlier, Hyderabad's batsmen failed to capitalise on the good position they were in on the opening day. Anoop Pai (51) completed his half century, adding another 22 runs to his overnight 29 before falling to R Ashwin.
For Tamil Nadu, Rangaraj Suthesh took two wickets on Day 2, while Ashwin and Mukund bagged one each.
Brief scores:
Hyderabad: 347
Tamil Nadu: 189-1 (Srikkanth Anirudha 70, Abhinav Mukund 66 not out)
