Chasing a victory target of 440 runs, Himachal Pradesh were 83 for two at close on the third day of their four-day Ranji Trophy Plate division Group B match against Orissa at the Barabati stadium in Cuttack today.
Opener Sandeep Sharma and skipper Sangram Singh were batting on 40 and nine, respectively.
Orissa, who led the visitors by 130 runs in the first innings, declared their second innings at 309 for eight soon after the tea break.
The hosts, resuming at the overnight 121 for two, batted for over two sessions to add 188 runs losing six wickets before skipper Sanjay Raul applied the closure.
Rashmi Ranjan Parida (50), Sanjay Satpathy (46), Sukhwinder Singh (39) and Pravanjan Mullick (29) boosted the Orissa total.
Sangram Singh, who had claimed four for 39 in Orissa's first innings, scalped four wickets in the second innings as well conceding 28 runs.
Himachal began the chase shakily losing opener Manvinder Bisla (12) in the seventh over with the total at 28 when he was trapped lbw by paceman Debashis Mohanty. All-rounder Pravanjan Mullick struck when he had Nischal Gaur caught by Parida for 10 with the total at 58.
Scoreboard:
Orissa (1st innings): 246
Himachal Pradesh (1st innings): 116
Orissa (2nd innings) (overnight 121 for two):
Shiv Sundar Das lbw V Minhas 48
Subrat Behera c S Singh b N Gaur 44
Rashmi Ranjan Parida lbw V Malik 50
Sanjay Raul lbw S Singh 13
Pravanjan Mullick c M Bisla b V Malik 29
Niranjan Behera lbw S Singh 0
Sukhwinder Singh b S Singh 39
Sanjay Satpathy lbw S Singh 46
Debashis Mohanty not out 18
Extras: (b 11, lb 7, nb 4) 22
Total (for 8 wkts decl): 309
Fall of wicket: 1-76, 2-118, 3-167, 4-171, 5-173, 6-218, 7-284, 8-309
Bowling: Vikramjit Malik 23-6-53-2, Ashok Thakur 23-5-58-0, Amit Sharma 14-5-33-0, Nischal Gaur 18-4-48-1, Vishal Bhatia 1-0-9-0, Vinod Minhas 22-8-62-1, Sangram Singh 11.4-2-28-4
Himachal Pradesh (2nd innings):
Manvinder Bisla lbw D Mohanty 12
Sandeep Sharma batting 40
Nishchal Gaur c R R Parida b P Mullick 10
Sangram Singh batting 9
Extras: (b 8, lb 4) 12
Total (for 2 wickets): 83
Fall of wickets: 1-28, 2-58
Bowling: Debashis Mohanty 6-1-14-1, Deepak Mangaraj 5-0-31-0, Srikanta Jena 6-1-11-0, Pravanjan Mullick 4-0-8-1, Sanjay Satpathy 2-0-7-0, Niranjan Behera 1-1-0-0
Maharashtra take 174 run lead against Goa
An unbeaten double century by Kaushik Aphale and Hrishikesh Kanitkar's 120 not out helped Maharashtra take a huge 174 run lead against Goa on the third day of their Ranji Trophy Plate Group B match at the Nehru Stadium in Pune on Thursday.
Capitalising on the good start provided by opener Dhiraj Jadhav, who scored 89, Maharashtra's batsmen piled on the runs against a hapless Goa attack.
Aphale's knock of 215 was studded with two sixes and 20 hits to the fence while Kanitkar's ton included 16 boundaries. N Godbole scored 42 runs.
Aphale and Kanitkar were at the crease when stumps were drawn for the day.
Bihar crush Vidarbha by seven wickets
Bihar crushed hosts Vidarbha by seven wickets to earn full four points on the third day of their four-day Plate Group A Ranji Trophy cricket match at the VCA Ground in Nagpur on Thursday.
Requiring 54 runs for an outright win, Bihar reached the target losing three wickets.
Earlier, resuming at the overnight score of 337 for nine, Bihar's first innings lasted just one ball on the third day when Sahid Khan (49) was trapped leg before wicket by Chandrashekhar Atram.
Vidarbha, trailing by 93 runs in the first innings, batted in pathetic fashion to be bundled out for a paltry 146 with Alind Naidu (30) and Amit Deshpande (25) being the only batsmen to offer some resistance.
Shiv Shankar Rao was the wrecker-in-chief for Bihar, claiming four wickets for 40 runs.
Nayan Doshi records first five-wicket haul
Left-arm spinner Nayan Dilip Doshi recorded his career-best figures as Saurashtra restricted Services to 216 in their first innings in a Ranji Trophy Plate Group A match in New Delhi on Thursday.
But the haul by 24 year-old Nayan, son of former India spinner Dilip Doshi, failed to stop Services from taking the first innings lead as they overtook Saurashtra's first innings total of 214.
By the end of the third day, Saurashtra's batsmen had already undone Doshi's fine bowling effort (5-41) ending the day on 79 for five in 43 overs.
Nayan, born in Nottingham, England, played for Buckinghamshire before making his Ranji debut for Saurashtra in 2001-02.
Services should thank Yashpal Singh (77) for taking the first innings lead after resuming at their overnight score of 139 for five. He hit seven fours and one six facing 206 balls and batting for 286 minutes before Doshi had him caught by Altaf. Altaf Merchant was the other Saurashtra bowler to impress, claiming three wickets.
But Merchant, who opens the Saurashtra innings, failed with the bat, making just 15 runs. The visitors then lost wickets at regular intervals to end the day in a precarious position.
For Services, medium-pacer Fazil Mohammed took three wickets.
Brief Scores:
Saurashtra: 214 and 79 for five in 43 overs; Services: 216
MP concedes lead despite Bundela ton
Despite an unbeaten century by middle-order batsman Devendra Bundela, Madhya Pradesh were bowled out for 220 runs to concede the first innings lead to Haryana on the third day of their Ranji Trophy Plate Group A clash in Gwalior on Thursday.
At close of play, Haryana were 39 for three in their second innings after gaining a vital lead of 58 runs.
Earlier, resuming at 88 for five, Bundela (100 not out) led the Madhya Pradesh recovery as he built a 105 run partnership for the sixth wicket with Brajesh Tomar (49).
Medium-pacer Joginder Sharma captured six wickets for 49 while leg-spinner Amit Mishra chipped in with three wickets for 78 runs.
Haryana, who had scored 278 in their first essay, have now established an overall lead of 97 runs with seven wickets in hand.
