Talented left-arm spinner Iqbal Abdulla ran through the Delhi middle-order with a five-wicket haul as Mumbai bowled out hosts for 201 thereby taking a first innings lead of 66 runs in the final group league encounter being held at the Roshanara ground.
After Abdulla (5/25) decimated Delhi, Mumbai scored another 74 runs losing two wickets in the process. The defending champions now enjoy a lead of 140 runs with eight wickets remaining.
Save captain Mithun Manhas (66)none of the Delhi batsmen showed any signs of taking any responsibility in a crunch match as they threw away their wickets.
It was Moondeep Mangela who started the slide dismissing Shikhar Dhawan caught by Rohit Sharma. However Manhas and Mayank Tehlan (29) added 77 runs for the fourth wicket as Delhi reached 150 for three.
However the next seven wickets feel for just 51 runs with Abdulla taking five of them and Aavishkar Salvi taking the other two.
Salvi bowled one in the line of the stumps as Manhas went for a cut without having much room to execute it and the ball clipped the off-bail.
Abdulla then got Tehlan caught by Prashant Waghela as the others like Rajat Bhatia, Puneet Bisht, Pradeep Sangwan, Sumit Narwal followed the suit playing poor shots.
When Mumbai batted in the second innings, wicketkeeper-batsman Omkar Gurav (30) and opener Sahil Kukreja (25 n.o) scored 58 runs for the first wicket before Gurav was caught by Bisht off Pradeep Sangwan's bowling.
Prashant Waghela who played at No. 3 in place of Ajinkya Rahane failed for the second time in this match nicking one to Bisht off Narwal's bowling.
Karnataka in control against UP
Kanpur: Riding on C M Gautam's century, Karnataka piled up 416 runs in their first innings and then reduced Uttar Pradesh to 163 for five at the end of second day's play in their Ranji Trophy Super League Group B match.
Gautam (115) started from where he had left last evening and, together with Udit Patel (72), added 126 runs for the ninth wicket to guide Karnataka past the 400-run mark.
For UP, leg-spinner Piyush Chawla added one more wicket to his four overnight to finish with figures of five for 95.
At stumps, Bhuvneshwar Kumar (51 n.o.) and Chawla (43 n.o.) were holding fort for the home team.
Medium pacer R Vinay Kumar picked up two wickets for Karnataka while veteran Sunil Joshi, Sreenath Aravind and Patel accounted for one each.
Earlier, resuming at an overnight score of 274 for seven, Gautam was confidence personified and did not give an inch to the UP bowlers during his patient 185-ball stay at the crease.
After Joshi (26) was lbw by Kumar, Gautam found an able ally down the order in Patel, and the duo mixed caution with aggression to carry on the visitors' march.
The duo frustrated the UP bowlers for nearly 30 overs before Patel's gutsy 96-ball innings was cut short by Chawla, and then Gautam followed suit to draw the curtains on Karnataka's innings.
In reply to Karnataka's total, UP started shakily losing their first three batsmen for just 15 runs.
If that was not enough, skipper Mohammad Kaif (23) and Parvinder Singh (22) also disappointed after getting starts to leave the hosts tottering at 90 for five.
Kumar and Chawla then joined hands and stitched an unbeaten 73-run stand to somewhat resurrect the UP innings.
Railways in control against Bengal
New Delhi: Gritty half centuries by Prashant Awasthi and Mahesh Rawat put Railways in command as they scored 250 for six by stumps on day two in reply to Bengal's modest first innings score of 201 in their final group league encounter of the Ranji Trophy at the Karnail Singh Stadium.
It was the 81-run fifth wicket partnership between Awasthi and Rawat that put Railways in driver's seat.
Awasthi scored a gutsy 73 but, more importantly, batted for close to three and half hours hitting seven boundaries in the process. Former India A and Rajasthan Royals keeper Rawat scored 52 off 102 deliveries with the help of five boundaries.
Railways will now look to go for the kill with a couple of days left if they can manage a sizeable lead by the first session tomorrow.
With Bengal spinners, especially left-armer Iresh Saxena, failing to make any sort of impact, it will be tough for Manoj Tiwary and company to make a comeback. Worse, opener Arindam Das has badly hurt his left elbow while fielding and is unlikely to open when Bengal come out to bat in the second innings.
Even Sourav Ganguly who took active participation during the numerous bowling changes and field placements, ran out of ideas as Saxena and company failed to hit right areas. The pitch certainly eased out and that helped Railways.
If Railways batsmen were discrete in shot selection, the Bengal bowlers helped them with a below par effort save Laxmi Ratan Shukla (two wickets) who was able to get a fair bit of movement.
Bengal started off well when Ranadeb Bose got Faiz Fazal (7) to edge one to skipper Manoj Tiwary in the slip cordon. However Shreyas Khanolkar (26) and Sanjay Bangar (29) added 47 runs in quick time through a flurry of boundaries.
Saurashtra have edge over Assam
Rajkot: Ravindra Jadeja's all-round show helped Saurashtra consolidate their position on the second day of their must-win Super League Ranji Trophy encounter against Assam.
After helping his team restrict Assam for a paltry 127 with a five-wicket haul, the India international shone with the bat playing a valuable innings of 84 in the team's second innings.
Thanks to Jadeja's all-round efforts, Saurashtra, who were 233 for nine at stumps, stretched their overall lead to 246.
Jadeja hit seven boundaries before Arlen Konwar brought to an end his 188-minute stay at the wicket. Knowar was the most impressive of Assam bowlers picking up four for 59, while Sarupam Purkayastha and Tarjinder Singh finished with two wickets each.
Earlier Jadeja and Kmalesh Makvana shared the spoils as Assam batsmen failed to cash in on their bowlers' efforts who packed off the hosts for 140 in their first innings at the Khandheri Cricket Stadium here.
While Jadeja had figures of five for 43, Makvana finished with four for 45 in 15 overs.
Lower order batsman Purkayastha top-scored for Assam with 23 as none in the top order could counter the Jadeja and Makvana.
Haryana take first-innings lead vs Orissa
Rohtak: Haryana managed to take a slender first innings lead over Orissa before reducing them to 64 for five in their second essay at the end of the second day of their Ranji Trophy Super League Group B match.
Replying to Orissa's first innings score of 175, Haryana were all-out for 202, thereby getting 27-run first innings lead.
And then the hosts went on to leave the visitors struggling at 64 for five at stumps with Biplab Samantray (4) and Subhrajit Sahoo (10) battling it out in the middle.
Earlier, resuming at an overnight total of 75 for four, Haryana got off to a good start with both the not out batsmen -- Hemang Badani, batting on 14 and Sachin Rana on 19, playing with lot of assurance.
Both cautiously avoided risky shots but Rana failed to sustain for long and fell for a well-made 38 off 89 balls studded with three fours.
But a slow but steady Badani continued in the able company of Joginder Sharma (26) before getting dismissed for a 103-ball 31.
Soon even Joginder followed his partner into the pavilion, with Haryana scoreboard reading 155 for seven, still needing another 21 runs to get past Orissa's first innings score.
However, skipper Amit Mishra (31) and Dhruv Singh (7) made sure that they achieve it to give Haryana an upper hand in this match. Finally, the hosts' innings folded for 202.
Orissa, in their second innings, yet again got off to a disastrous start and could never recover from that position.
The top and middle order returned to the dressing room in no time at all. After getting openers Natraj Behera (6) and Paresh Patel (17) out cheaply, Haryana bowlers also sent back Niranjan Behera (4), Bikas Pati (5) and Govind Poddar (11), leaving Orissa reeling at 53 for five.
While Joginder Sharma (2/11) and Sachin Rana (2/03) accounted for two wickets each, Amit Mishra (1/17) chipped in with one.
Tamil Nadu in command vs Gujarat
Chennai: Tamil Nadu inched towards getting a vital first innings lead against Gujarat as they were 158 for three at close in reply to the visitors' 173 in the final group league encounter of the Ranji Trophy. India's new ODI star Ravinchandran Ashwin (5/57) and Suresh Kumar (four for 42), restricted Gujarat to a paltry 173.
But for a 54-run stand for the seventh wicket between top-scorer Pratharesh Parmar (67) and Salil Yadav (13), Gujarat, who recovered from 80 for six, would have been in an even worse situation.
However, Tamil Nadu quickly recovered from an early blow when opener Abhinav Mukund fell cheaply for seven runs. At close, Subramaniam Badrinath (72 batting) and Arun Karthik (60 batting) were at the crease having put on 115 runs for the third wicket.
Baroda in control against HP
Vadodara: Captain Pinal Shah scored a brilliant 132 to put Baroda in a commanding position against Himachal Pradesh at the end of second day's play in their Ranji Trophy Super League Group B match.
At stumps, Himachal Pradesh were 108 runs for loss of four wickets in their second innings, still needing 123 more to wipe out the home team's 231-run first inning lead.
Resuming at the overnight score of 173 for five, Baroda added 177 more runs to finish their first essay on 350 in reply to HP's 119.
Skipper Shah anchored the Baroda innings with a 157-ball 132 during which he hit 15 boundaries.
Shah was also associated in two big partnerships for Baroda -- first a 74-run sixth-wicket stand with Kedar Devdhar (81) and then 77 runs with last wicket Murtuza Vahora (11).
Medium pacers Rishi Dhawan (4/105) and Vikramjeet Malik (3/73) were the star bowlers for HP.
Coming onto bat in their second essay, HP yet again struggled as they lost three quick wickets at the team's total of 28.
But skipper Paras Dogra (53) and Varun Sharma (26 n.o.) steadied the ship with a 74-runs fourth wicket stand before the former was caught by Rakesh Solanki off Vahora.
