Sahil Kukreja (87) and Ajinkya Rahane (89) were on course for individual centuries as reigning champions Mumbai posted 198 for 1 against Hyderabad on Day 2 of their Ranji Trophy Super League match in Hyderabad. Mumbai still trail by 68 runs, but with nine-wickets in hand.
Overnight Hyderabad batsman Syed Quadri added 28 runs to his score and remained unbeaten on 76 as the hosts folded for 266 after resuming at 223 for 7.
Mumbai's top order then complimented the good bowling by their resolute batting as opener Kukreja and Rajhane raised an unbeaten 171 for the second wicket after early loss of Vinayak Samant (13).
Kukreja's 87 came off 188 balls and included five boundaries and two sixes, while Rahane took 185 balls for his 89, which contained 10 shots to the fence.
Odedra rocks Delhi, Saurashtra eye 1st innings lead
New Delhi: Medium pacer Jayesh Odedra's five-wicket haul rocked the Delhi top and middle order as Saurashtra remained in the hunt for a first innings lead in the Ranji Trophy Super League Group B match at the Roshanara Club ground.
In reply to Saurashtra's first innings total of 328, Delhi were 262 for 7 at stumps, with Puneet Bisht (49) and Pradeep Sangwan (19) in the middle.
Once Delhi, led by Virat Kohli in regular skipper Akaash Chopra's absence, resumed on 22 for no loss, Odedra's five for 71 never allowed them forge partnerships and that proved costly in the end. Apart from Odedra, Sandip Maniar (2/58) was also among the wickets.
It was a poor batting display by the hosts since most of their batsmen got the starts but none could convert them into a real big score.
Debutant Ankur Julka (36) and Aditya Jain (38) gave the hosts a decent start, putting together 65 runs but Odedra drew first blood, breaching the latter's defence.
Julka soon followed him to the pavilion, perishing caught behind, and veteran Mithunm Manhas (15) became Odedra's third victim as Delhi slumped to 114 for three.
Stop-gap skipper Kohli (39) looked good for a big knock but Maniar castled him to end his 94-ball stay. It was the same story with subsequent batsmen of not showing application.
Rajat Bhatia (33) looked his solid self before edging Maniar, while Mayank Tehlan (14) hit three fluent boundaries before Odedra trapped him plumb in front.
Bisht, however, showed tremendous gut and remained unbeaten after an 85-ball knock that included six fours.
Behara leads Orissa fightback
Sambalpur: Skipper Shiv Sunder Das (71) and Niranjan Behara (88) shared an unbroken stand of 173 runs for the second wicket as Orissa gave a fitting reply to Tamil Nadu's 361 all out on Day 2 of their Ranji Trophy match.
The hosts are still trailing by 188 runs after reaching 173 for one at stumps but have nine wickets in hand. They will hope to erase the deficit and take the first innings lead, which will be vital to get a bonus point in case of a draw.
Orissa put up an all-round show as they first conceded just 38 runs to take the remaining five wickets of the visitors, who began the day at 323 for five.
And then the Orissa duo of Das and Behara overcame an early hiccup to give a fitting reply to the visitors at the Veer Surendra Sai stadium.
Tamil Nadu's overnight batsman Arun Kartik (118) failed to add to his score while his partner C Ganapathy (72) could add just 20. Dhiraj Singh (4/109) and Alok Sahoo (2/79) took two wickets apiece in the five wickets that fell in Tami Nadu's innings.
Orissa had a disastrous start as Bikas Pati fell for a golden duck, becoming a victim of Ganapathy. But Das and Behera batted with patience and resolve to ensure that Orissa did not suffer any more.
Das took 173 balls for his 71, which had 11 fours and one six, while Behera consumed 225 balls for his 88 and helped himself with 16 fours.
Gony puts Punjab on course for a victory
Mohali: On a day when 18 wickets fell, Manpreet Gony's five-for not only glossed over Punjab's batting frailties but also put the hosts on course for an outright win in the Ranji Trophy Super League Group A match.
Resuming at 37 for two, Punjab folded for 186 in the first innings to hand a crucial 11-run lead to the visitors, thanks to Vikramjeet Malik's five-wicket haul at the PCA stadium.
However, Gony retaliated for the hosts and returned with another five-wicket haul for just 21 runs as Himachal Pradesh were dismissed for 82 in their second innings, with seven batsmen failing to get to double digits.
Gony's five-for brightened Punjab's hopes as they need just 94 runs to win the match.
The beefy pacer was well-supported by Love Ablish and Rahul Sharma, both scalping two wickets each.
Earlier, Punjab lost their first wicket when Malik's wicket-bound delivery found Taruwar Kohli's (12) leg in the day's sixth over.
But Uday Kaul (50), resuming at his personal score of 15, waged a lonely battle before falling prey to Malik, who was well-supported by Ashok Thakur (3/53) and Jitender Mehta (2/22).
Bangar ton puts Railways in driver's seat
Valsad: A brilliant century by skipper Sanjay Bangar put Railways in the driver's seat as the visitors extended their lead to 236 runs with five wickets still in hand on Day 2 of their Ranji Trophy Super league Group A match against Gujarat at Sardar Patel stadium.
Bangar (109) joined forces with opener V Cheluvaraj (46) and T P Singh (46) to help his team reach 327 for five at the end of the day. At stumps, Yere Goud (62 not out) and M Suresh (30 not out) were at crease.
Resuming at 61 for one, Bangar and Cheluvaraj blasted the Gujarat blowers and put up a 131-run partnership for the second wicket.
After Cheluvaraj was dismissed by Salil Yadav, Singh joined Bangar to add 71 runs for the third wicket.
Bangar was the next to go after scoring a brilliant 109, which included 20 boundaries. He was soon followed by Singh, who was caught by Yadav off Mehul Patel.
For Gujarat, Mehul and Siddharth Trivedi bagged two wickets each, while Yadav captured one wicket.
Timil Patel, who was called in as the fifth bowler faced the wrath of the Railways batsmen giving away 39 runs in seven overs.
Baroda in trouble
Vadodara: Skipper Irfan Pathan's unbeaten 52 was the only semblace of resistence as Baroda were 137 for nine, still needing a mamoth 351 runs to stop Karnataka from taking a first innings lead in their Ranji Trophy Super League Group B match.
In reply to Karnataka's first innings total of 488, Baroda lost half its side at 55 runs and if it wasn't for Irfan's blistering 50-ball innings, containing seven fours and two sixes, things would have been worse for the hosts.
The possibility of injured Rakesh solanki coming to bat is also grim as he had sustained injuries on his hand during fielding and was taken to the hospital.
The Baroda batsmen failed to negotiate the combined pace attack of Vinay Kumar, Abhimanyu Mithun and Arvind S and were bowled out cheaply. Medium pacers Vinay and mithun took three wickets each while Aarvind bagged two for the visitors.
Earlier, resuming at overnight score of 335 runs for three, Ganesh Satish failed to add to his total and was sent back to the hut declared lbw by Irfan.
However, Pandey (110) completed his century before becoming the victim of Munaf Patel. Stuart Binny also made a solid 66 containing six fours and a six but medium pacer Murtuza Vahora cut short his stay. Vahora claimed three wickets conceding 81 runs.
Adhav, Fallah put Maharashtra in command
Pune: Left-arm duo K R Adhav and Samad Fallah shared eight wickets as Maharashtra shot out Uttar Pradesh for 202 in their first innings. In their second innings, Maharashtra were 102 for two in the Ranji Trophy Super League Group B match.
Left-arm pacer Fallah (3-54) rattled the top-order, claiming two of the first three wickets to have UP tottering at 52-3 and later left-arm spinner Adhav (5-24) cleaned up the middle and lower order, as the visitors were bowled 59.2 overs in reply to the hosts first innings score of 292.
Skipper Mohd Kaif (65) and Parvinder Singh (47) tried to stem the rot adding 99 runs for the fourth wicket, but once Parvinder was castled by Adhav with the score at 151, the UP innings crumbled.
The visitors lost their last seven wickets for just 57 runs to hand over Maharashtra a handy first innings lead of 84 runs.
In their second essay, Maharashtra batsmen batted sensibly to reach 102 for the loss of two wickets in 30 overs. Skipper H Khadiwale (54) and SD Atitkar (36 not out) added 66 runs for the second wicket after Maharashtra lost opener R Bhosale (4) with the score on 28.
When stumps were drawn, Atitakar and K M Jadhav were at the crease with Maharashtra in firm control of the proceedings extending their lead to 190 with eight wickets still in hand.
