Rudra Pratap Singh and Piyush Chawla claimed two wickets each to help Uttar Pradesh take a vital 64-run first innings lead after Assam were bowled out for a mere 149 on the second day of the Ranji Trophy quarter-final in Guwahati, on Friday.
After Uttar Pradesh had made 213 in their first innings, the Assam batsmen failed to deliver. Assam skipper Amol Muzumdar (53) waged a lone battle for the hosts but that was clearly not enough to pull his side out of the pit.
Uttar Pradesh were 25 for no loss in their second essay at stumps on day two with Tanmay Srivastava (14) and Shivakant Shukla (2) at the crease.
Resuming at 17 for one, Assam batsmen failed to apply themselves against the visiting bowlers and they kept losing wickets at regular intervals.
After left-arm spinner Praveen Gupta (two for nine) claimed the day's first wicket by removing Amit Sinha (8), paceman R P Singh (two for 53) and his new-ball partner Shalabh Srivastava (two for 42) made the life miserable for Assam batsmen.
Veteran Sairaj Bahutule (8) and middle order batsman Kunal Saikia (3) also failed to live upto expectations and departed cheaply.
Chawla, who bagged two wickets for 30 runs, also chipped in with some suffocating bowling only to make the task difficult for the Assam batsmen.
Muzumdar, who struck three boundaries during his 132-ball stay, put up a desperate effort to give his side a recovery before being run out in 50th over.
Brief scores:
Uttar Pradesh: 213 and 25 for no loss.
Assam: 149 all out (Amol Muzumdar 53; RP Singh 2-53, Piyush Chawla 2-30).
--------------------------
ANIRUDHA CENTURY BOOSTS TN
Tamil Nadu piled up a huge 463 runs in their first innings riding on Srikkanth Anirudha's 113 and then reduced Delhi to 69 for two to occupy the drivers' seat on the second day of their Ranji Trophy quarter-final match in New Delhi, on Friday.
Resuming at 278 for four, TN added 185 runs from the 59.4 overs they faced on the second day, thanks mainly due to Anirudha's well-deserved century. He added 72 to his overnight 41 before falling to Vikas Mishra in the post lunch session.
In reply, Delhi were 69 for two after 27 overs with Aditya Jain (16) and Mithun Manhas (16) at the crease at stumps.
Tamil Nadu lost overnight batsman Ramachandran Ashwin in the seventh over of the morning but Anirudha and Chandrasekar Ganapathy (41) shared 99 runs for the sixth wicket in exactly 30 overs to ensure that the momentum provided by their top order did not go waste.
Anirudha, who struck 13 fours in his 202-ball innings, was quickly followed by Ganapathy to the pavillion but a late flourish by Laxmipathy Balaji, who made 42 from 66 balls with the help of six fours and one six, took the visitors score past 450.
For Delhi, Vikas Mishra was the most successful bowler with five wickets for 112 while Pradeep Sangwan took three wickets for 107 runs.
Delhi did not have the best of the starts with openers Aakash Chopra (10) and Shikhar Dhawan (17) out in quick succession without contributing much to the team total.
Both the openers, returning to the home side after missing a few group matches, were tentative in their short stay at the crease.
Chopra was the first to go falling to Ashwin at team score of 31.
Next man in Aditya Jain was cautious in his approach and took 56 balls for his unbeaten 16. His other partner Dhawan tried to shrug off the rustiness after long injury lay-off but could not score.
Dhawan fell to Rangaraj Suthesh with Delhi adding just two runs from five overs after Chopra's departure.
Brief Scores:
Tamil Nadu first innings: 463 all out in 147.4 overs (S Anirudha 113, A Karthik 78, A Mukund 73, V Mishra 5-112)
Delhi first innings: 69-2 in 27 overs (R Ashwin 1-6)
--------------------------
UTHAPPA, PANDEY LEAD FIGHTBACK
Robin Uthappa's sedate 91 coupled with an unbeaten 76 by Manish Pandey to take Karnataka within 36 runs of taking the first innings lead against Punjab on second day of the Ranji Trophy quarter-finals in Mysore, on Friday.
Chasing Punjab's competitive first innings score of 300, Karnataka finished the day at 265 for six, with Sunil Joshi (13 not out) giving Pandey company at the crease at Gangothri Glades Cricket Ground.
Resuming at 292 for nine, Punjab earlier could add only eight runs before the visitor's first essay came to an end with Harmeet Singh felling prey to left-arm pacer Sreesanth Aravind in 93rd over.
For Karnataka, Vinay Kumar scalped three wickets for 100 runs, while Abhimanyu Mithun (2-53) also bowled well.
The hosts then suffered an early blow with pacer Harmeet removing Karnataka opener KB Pawan (1) cheaply.
However, Uthappa dropped anchor to inspire two useful partnerships worth 61 and 74 runs with Ganesh Satish (29) and skipper Rahul Dravid (36) respectively.
Uthappa struck 14 boundaries and one six before offering a return catch to Rahul Sharma. Dravid (36) was castled by Love Ablish in the 46th over, which inspired the striving Punjab attack.
But the in-form Pandey, who had garnered 553 runs in the tournament before this game, batted with aplomb to keep the Karnataka innings afloat.
Apart from two hundreds, Pandey has authored four half-centuries so far in this season.
The bubbling youngster, who is continuously knocking at the door of the national squad, struck eight fours and one six during his unconquered 165-minute tenure at the crease.
Brief scores:
Punjab first innings: 300 (V Bhalla 70 not out, U Kaul 68, R Vinay Kumar 3-100, A Mithun 2-53).
Karnataka first innings: 265/6 (R Uthappa 91, M Pandey 76 not out, L Ablish 2-73).
--------------------------
MUMBAI TIGHTEN NOOSE AROUND HARYANA
Defending champions Mumbai tightened the noose around Haryana as they first notched up 400 in their first innings and then reduced the hosts to 34 for two on the second day of their Ranji Trophy quarter-final in Rohtak, on Friday.
Resuming at 238 for five, Mumbai added 162 from the 69.4 overs they faced on day two with Romesh Powar (53) and Iqbal Abdullah (45) being the main contributors.
Overnight centurion Ajinkya Rahane added 27 runs to his overnight score before he was dismissed for 143, laced with 16 boundaries in his 343-ball knock.
In reply, Haryana were 34 for two with Rahul Dewan and Manav Sharma on 20 and six respectively.
In the morning, Ajinkya Rahane and Romesh Powar (53) started the proceedings on a cautious note and took the score to 286 before pacer Joginder Sharma broke the partnership with the new ball, dismissing Rahane for 143.
After the departure of Rahane, Powar and Vinayak Sawant (13) took the Mumbai total past 300, before part-time bowler Ankit Rawat chipped in with the wicket of Sawant.
New batsman Abdullah (45) and Powar shunned risks and shared a partnership of 55 runs for the eighth wicket before the latter was dismissed by pacer Sachin Rana. Powar's 53 came from 191 balls and was laced with six fours.
Next batsmen Dhawal Kulkarni (4) and Usman Malvi (11) supported Abdullah well to take the visiting team's total to 400 all out.
Haryana, who after a gap of two years have made it to the elite group of the Ranji Trophy, could not have made a more disastrous start in their first innings as opener Nitin Saini (0) and Sunny Singh (4) departed cheaply.
Kulkarni first trapped Nitin leg before wicket in the fourth over of the innings and then dismissed Sunny Singh in his next over.
Brief scores:
Mumbai first innings: 400 all out in 159.4 overs (Ajinkya Rahane 143, Ajit Agarkar 78, Romesh Powar 53; Sachin Rana 4-72, Joginder Sharma 2 for 89)
Haryana first innings: 34 for 2 in 18 overs (Rahul Dewan 20 not out; Dhawal Kulkarni 2-8).
