Karnataka put up an impressive show and were on course of taking a substantial first innings lead against Saurashtra at stumps on the second day of their four-day Ranji Trophy quarter-final match in Mumbai on Saturday.
Karnataka added 40 more runs in their first innings before being bowled out 305 after commencing the day at 265 for eight and then reduced their rivals to a sorry-reading 183 for nine at the Brabourne Stadium.
Medium pacers Vinay Kumar (2 for 46) and debutant S Aravind (1 for 31) along with spinners Sunil Joshi (2 for 32) and C Raghu (2 for 8) were among the wickets.
Saurashtra's batting mainstay and leading run-getter Cheteshwar Pujara flopped as he made only one run while veteran stone-waller Sitanshu Kotak fell for 11.
All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, who took 5 for 82 in the Karnataka innings, was the most impressive when scoring a fluent 38 with six fours before he was run out following a mix-up with wicket-keeper Sagan Jogiyani (30).
At the end of the day, Saurashtra, who crawled their way throughout the day, were 122 runs adrift of the Karnataka tally with the last pair of Balkrishna Jadeja (7) and Jayesh Odedara (5) at the crease.
Scores:
Karnataka 1st innings: 305 all out.
Saurashtra 1st innings: 183 for 9 (Ravindra Jadeja 38, Sagar Jogiyani 30; Vinay Kumar 2/46, Sunil Joshi
2/32, C Raghu 2/8).
-----------
Jaffer's ton lifts Mumbai
A splendid innings by Wasim Jaffer (108) and Rohit Sharma (98) helped Mumbai gain upper hand against Himachal Pradesh on the second day of the Ranji Trophy quarter-final at the Sardar Patel Stadium, in Motera.
Mumbai piled up an impresive total of 405 for loss of six wickets at the end of the day.
Himachal, in the first innings, were restricted to 250 after Mumbai's medium pacer Abhishek Nayar claimed six wickets.
Mumbai openers Jaffer and Vinayak Samant were involved in a partnership of 53 before the latter was dismissed for 20.
-----------
Tamil Nadu struggling against Bengal
Tamil Nadu were struggling at 188 for five in their first innings in reply to Bengal's 345 all out in their Ranji Trophy quarterfinal match on the second day at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore.
Tamil Nadu were saved by a 60-run partnership for the fifth wicket between captain Dinesh Karthik and S S Kumar after they were reduced to 87 for four at one stage.
Tamil Nadu began on a shaky note with their opener M Vijay caught by Manoj Tiwary off Ranadeb Bose for one.
Medium pacer Bose claimed two wickets conceding 44 runs in his 15 overs. Sourav Sarkar and Ritam Kundu took a wicket apiece.
Suresh Kumar (40) and R Ashwin (23) were at the crease when stumps were drawn on the second day.
Bengal, resuming at 292 for five, lost the remaining five wickets for the addition of 53 runs and were all out for 345 runs.
Tamil Nadu's C Ganapathy, who had taken two wickets on Friday, added three more and turned out to be the most successful bowler for his side.
Brief scores: Bengal 345 all out (Manoj Tiwary 144, C G Ganapathy 5/59) and Tamil Nadu 188 for five (Dinesh Karthik 46; Suresh Kumar batting 40; Ranadeb Bose 2/44).
----------------
UP in commanding position against Gujarat
Praveen Kumar's five-wicket haul helped Uttar Pradesh bundle out Gujarat for 117 before the visitors reached 76 for one in their second innings to take a 264-run lead on the second day of the Ranji Trophy quarter-final match in Vadodara.
Tanmay Srivastav (42) and Suresh Raina (29) were holding fort for Uttar Pradesh when the stumps were drawn for the day.
UP had made 305 in their first innings and Praveen ensured that the visitors got a healthy 117-run lead going into the second innings with his five-wicket haul.
The unbeaten second wicket partnership of 61 runs between Srivastava and Raina helped UP consolidate their position after opener Shivkant Shukla fell for 15 in their second essay.
Earlier, resuming at their overnight score of 242 for 6, UP tailenders accounted for 63 runs.
A M Makada took three wickets for the hosts conceding 40 runs, while off-spinner Mohnis Parmar grabbed two wickets for 74 runs.
In reply, Gujarat struggled from the very start and were reeling at 48 for seven before tailender Timil Patel added valuable 43 runs and remained unconquered till the end. He got some support from Makada (22) and T K Patel (14), which took Gujarat's total past the 100-mark.
Praveen demolished Gujarat by taking five wickets for 25 runs, while I A Ahmed bagged three wickets for 73 runs. B K Singh took two wickets for 43 runs.
Brief scores:
UP 1st innings 305 all out.
Gujarat 1st innings 117 all out in 40.2 overs (Timil Patel 43 not out; Praveen Kumar 5 for 25, I A Ahmed 3 for 73).
Uttar Pradesh 2nd innings: 76 for 1 in 25 overs (Tanmay Srivastava not out 42, Suresh Raina not out 29, AM Makada 1 for 15).
