Saurashtra are in sight of a victory following fine performances by spinners Yuvrajsinh Dodiya and Parth Bhut, who both grabbed two wickets apiece to leave Maharashtra struggling at 104/5, still 104 runs adrift of the 208-run target, in a Ranji Trophy Group A match in Solapur, Maharashtra, on Saturday.
On a day when veteran India batter Cheteshwar Pujara failed for the second time in the match, departing for a duck, Saurashtra still managed to set a challenging total, courtesy a 93-run partnership between tail-enders Chirag Jani (43) and skipper Jaydev Unadkat (45).
Together, the duo lifted Saurashtra from a precarious 69 for 8 to 164 all out, which helped the defending champions set a fighting total.
Saurashtra's top-order fell like ninepins, with opener Harvik Desai, Pujara and Bhut departing for naught in the second innings as Maharashtra's left-arm spinner Hitesh Walunj bagged a career-best 8/70.
Walunj, who was also the most successful bowler on Day 1 returning excellent figures of 6/93 in 26 overs, also bagged a career-best match-haul of 14 wickets.
But the 30-year-old spinner's effort seem to be going waste as Maharashtra batted carelessly in the second innings to surrender the initiative.
At stumps on Day 2, the entire Maharashtra top-order had been sent back, with Siddharth Mhatre (11 not out) and Taranjitsingh Dhillon (6 not out) at the crease.
With more than a 100 runs still to get, it would be an uphill task for Maharashtra to turn the match around on Day 3.
Saurashtra's Dodiya (2/38) got rid of young Maharashtra opener Kaushal Tambe for 16 before Bhut (2/24) grabbed two quick wickets to have the opponents reeling at 3/62 from their hardly fought hard.
Brief scores:
In Solapur: Saurashtra 202 and 164 in 43.2 overs (Chirag Jani 42, Jaydev Unadkat 45; Hitesh Walunj 8/70) vs Maharashtra 159 and 104/5 in 27 overs (Yuvrajsinh Dodiya 2/38, Parth Bhut 2/24).
In Jamshedpur: Manipur 170 vs Jharkhand 473/5 in in 117 overs (Utkarsh Singh 116, Saurabh Tiwary 105 batting, Anukul Roy 97 batting).
In Jaipur: Rajasthan 432 in 130.2 overs (Salman Khan 52, Deepak Hooda 77, Kukna Ajay Singh 83; Harsh Dubey 3/110) vs Vidarbha 140/2 in 41 overs (Yash Rathod 68 batting).
In Rohtak: Services 108 and 78/4 in 21.3 overs (Rajat Paliwal 50; Anshul Kamboj 3/16) vs Haryana 103 in 39.2 overs (Rahul Tewatia 31; Varun Choudhary 3/31, Pulkit Narang 3/19). PTI AM AM
Juyal, Karan strike double hundred as UP in command against Assam
Uttar Pradesh's Aryan Juyal and Karan Sharma struck double centuries each to propel their side to a mammoth 548 for eight against Assam on the second day of their Elite Group B Ranji Trophy match in Kanpur on Saturday.
Juyal (201, 278 balls) and Karan (208, 310 balls) constructed a 298-run partnership for the third wicket while notching up their first-ever First-Class double century.
For Assam, Mrinmoy Dutta (4/116) was the most successful bowler.
Assam have started their first innings strongly, reaching 116 for no loss at close with openers Parvej Musaraf (53) and Rahul Hazarika (51) manning the crease. They trail by 432 runs.
In another Group B contest in Kolkata, Anustup Majumdar's unbeaten hundred (108) was not enough to keep Bengal going against Mumbai.
The visitors resumed the day on 330 for six and and added 82 runs to the total before getting shot out for 412.
For Bengal, Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal was the star with a six-for. However, the hosts stumbled with the bat, getting bundled out for 199.
While none of their other batters could cross the 40-run mark, Majumdar along with skipper Manoj Tiwary (36) contributed a 78-run stand for the fourth wicket, which was the only highlight of Bengal innings.
Mohit Avasthi shone for Mumbai with a three-wicket haul, as Mumbai now lead by 213 runs.
In Raipur's Group B clash, Mohammed Azharuddeen's hard-fought 85 ensured Kerala finished with 350 against Chhattisgarh.
Resuming at 219 for four, visiting skipper Sanju Samson played a composed knock of 57 before Azharuddeen's boldness.
For the hosts, Ashish Chouhan impressed with a fifer before the hosts finished the day on 100 for four to trail by 250 runs.
Brief scores:
In Kanpur: Uttar Pradesh: 548/8 (Aryan Juyal 201; Karan Sharma 208; Mrinmoy Dutta 4/116) vs Assam: 116 for no loss (Parvej Musaraf 53 batting, Rahul Hazarika 51 batting).
In Kolkata: Mumbai: 412 all out (Suryansh Shedge 71, Shivam Dube 72; Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal 6/124) vs Bengal: 199 (Anustup Majumdar 108; Mohit Avasthi 3-63).
In Patna: Bihar: 182 all out (Raghuvendra Pratap Singh 92, Girinath Reddy 5/23) vs Andhra: 313/5 (Ricky Bhui 58, Shaik Rasheed 76; Raghuvendra Pratap Singh 2/46).
In Raipur: Kerala: 350 all out (Sachin Baby 91, Mohammed Azharuddeen 85; Ashish Chouhan 5/100) vs Chhattisgarh: 100/4 (Sanjeet Desai 50 batting; MD Nidheesh 2/19). PTI AYG
Saif fifty gives Railways momentum against Karnataka in low-scoring thriller
An unbeaten fifty by Mohammed Saif gave Railways a glimmer of hope as they reached 209 for 8 in the second innings against Karnataka on the second day of their Elite Group C Ranji Trophy match in Surat on Saturday.
The effort helped them earn a handy 190-run lead despite conceding 19-run first innings lead to their opponents.
But this could prove a tricky chase for Karnataka on Day 3 as they are without their best batter and captain Mayank Agarwal for this match.
Karnataka were earlier bowled out for 174 in their first dig as two left-arm spinners Akash Pandey (5/63) and Ayan Chaudhari (4/39) shared the spoils.
The well-oiled bowling unit of Karnataka did not give too many comfort moments for Railways in their second innings as they kept chipping away with regular wickets.
The first hint of Railways' fightback came when skipper Pratham Singh (33) and Saif (51 batting) added 69 runs for the second wicket to rescue their side from a shaky 13 for two.
After the departure of Pratham, snaffled by pacer Vysakh Vijaykumar, Saif made a further 44 runs for the fourth wicket with Sahab Yuvraj Singh (28).
Saif played a support hand as Suraj Ahuja cracked a 68-ball 48 as Railways headed towards a substantial lead.
Pacer Vysakh was the pick of Karnataka bowlers with a three-wicket haul (3/45).
Earlier, resuming from their overnight 90 for six, Karnataka amassed 174 in their first innings as the late order batters offered some resistance.
Wicketkeeper batter Sharath Srinivas (24) and Vysakh (24) milked 32 runs for the seventh wicket as Karnataka inched closer to Railways' first innings total of 155 which they eventually overhauled for a slender lead.
Brief scores: At Surat: Railways: 155 all out & 2nd innings: 209 for 8 in 62 overs (Mohammed Saif 51 batting, Suraj Ahuja 48; Vysakh Vijaykumar 3/45, Vidwath Kaverappa 2/35) vs Karnataka (1st innings): 174 all out in 50.5 overs (S. Sharath 24, Vysakh Vijaykumar 24; Akash Pandey 5/63, Ayan Chaudhari 4/39).
At Mohali: Punjab (1st Innings): 477 for 2 in 107 overs (Anmol Preet Singh 202 batting, Prabhsimran Singh 171 batting) vs Chandigarh.
At Ahmedabad: Tripura: 146 all out & 2nd innings: 330 for 9 in 77 overs (Bikram Kumar Das 82, Manishankar Mura Singh 72, Sankar Paul 50 batting, Sudip Chatterjee 46; SA Desai 6/107) vs Gujarat (1st Innings): 172 all out.
At Porvorim: Goa: 241 all out & 2nd innings: 10 for no loss in 4 overs vs Tamil Nadu (1st innings): 273 all out in 90.2 overs (Narayan Jagadeesan 75, Pradosh Ranjan Paul 71, Vijay Shankar 54; Mohit Redkar 5/70, Darshan Misal 4/77).
Jyotsnil's patient double hundred frustrates Delhi
Baroda is slowly but surely aiming to bat Delhi out of the Ranji Trophy Group D encounter as Jyotsnil Singh's sedate unbeaten double hundred took the visitors to 400 for 5 at stumps on the second day.
The right-hander remained unbeaten on 215 off 401 balls with the help of 19 fours and a six in New Delhi.
While he remained unbeaten for the second day in a row en route his second First-Class century, Jyotsnil only added 88 runs off 194 deliveries on the day. In the whole 74 overs, he hit only one boundary.
Having started the day at 202 for 1, Baroda added another 198 runs in 74 overs sent down during the day as Delhi bowlers did perform better compared to opening day.
However, the dead nature of the Airforce Stadium track made life miserable for the home team as they had to wait patiently for the mistakes from the batters rather than being able to force a change in the run of play.
Baroda, who are currently looking good to make it to the knock-outs as the top team of group D, do not need an outright win and are aiming for the first innings lead.
They are, perhaps, looking at scoring close to 500 and not leave Delhi enough time to surpass the first innings score.
Jyotsnil added 201 for the second wicket with Shaswat Rawat, the diminutive left-hander, who was trapped leg-before by veteran Ishant Sharma (2/43 in 19 overs).
Pranshu Vijayaran (2/91 in 23 overs), who didn't find right length on opening day gave a much better account of himself, removing the experienced Vishnu Solanki (12) and later got rid of the dangerous Shivalik Sharma (45).
Brief Scores: Baroda 400/5 in 138 overs (Jyotsnil Singh 215 batting, Shaswat Rawat 72, Ishant Sharma 2/43) vs Delhi
At Cuttack: Odisha 1st Innings 322 (Biplab Samantray 82, Govinda Poddar 80, Gourav Yadav 5/69) vs Puducherry 127/4 (KB Arun Karthik 77 batting).
At Dharamsala: Himachal Pradesh: 169 all out vs Madhya Pradesh: 68/4 in 27 overs
At Jammu: Jammu & Kashmir: 168/2 in 39 overs.
