A round-up of the second day's play of the Ranji Trophy Super League matches on Friday.
Muzumdar slams ton to pilot Mumbai to big lead
Riding on contributions from top order batsmen and a patient 113 from former captain Amol Muzumdar, Mumbai took a massive 234-run lead over Punjab on the second day of the four-day Group 'A' match.
With his place in the eleven under threat following a string of poor scores before this innings, Muzumdar compiled his 24th first class ton in his 142nd match as Mumbai, replying to the visitor's meagre total of 202, declared their first innings at 436 for nine.
In the remaining time under poor light conditions, Punjab made 18 for no loss in four overs bowled by Mumbai spinners Ramesh Powar and Ankit Chavan, but face a huge task on Saturday to stay afloat.
Punjab started the day well after the hosts had commenced at their overnight score of 90 for one when they sent back in-form batsman and the tournament's leading scorer Ajinkya Rahane for 80 in the seventh over of the morning.
Rahane, not out 53 off 60 balls last evening, fell leg before to Gagandeep Singh off the 21st ball he faced. Thereafter, the visitors bowling was put to sword by the Mumbai batting line-up with Muzumdar dropping anchor.
After overnight unbeaten batsman Vinayak Samant (65) fell, Rohit Sharma cracked a quickfire 85 with 14 fours and a six in only 102 balls and then left-hander Abhishek Nayar hit a cameo 61 off 50 balls with eight fours and a six to dominate the proceedings.
Brief scores: Punjab 202 and 18 for no loss vs Mumbai 436 for 9 decl (V Samant 65, A Rahane 80, A Muzumdar 113, Rohit Sharma 85, A Nayar 61; S Ladda 3 for 93).
Delhi 117 for no loss against Rajasthan
Skipper Aakash Chopra (50 not out) and Shikhar Dhawan (51 not out) struck half centuries as Delhi were at a comfortable 117 for no loss in their first innings on the second day against Rajasthan at Sawai Man Singh stadium in Jaipur.
Defending champions Delhi, who have to win the game to remain in hunt for a quarterfinal berth, bundled out Rajasthan for 295 and then raced to 117 without loss at close.
The visitors' task was made easier by inept batting by hosts batsmen. Delhi, in quest of a victory, was a worried lot when Rajasthan had surged to 197 for 2 in their first innings but the hosts batsmen could not show the resilience which has been lacking throughout this season and were all out for 295.
Resuming at their overnight score of 197 for 2, the hosts were immediately in trouble as Kuldeep Singh (77) who had looked solid despite being beaten several times ran himself out off a throw by Nagar.
Skipper Venugopal Rao (30), Robin Bisht (38) and Rajesh Bishnoi (21) resisted for a while but none of them could build their innings.
The Delhi bowlers kept on bowling in right areas to restrict Rajasthan to 295 and give themselves a chance to win the match.
Pradeep Sangwan (3 for 76) and Parminder Singh Awana (3 for 40) were the wreckers-in-chief for Delhi.
In reply, Delhi openers, skipper Chopra and Shikhar Dhawan grabbed the opportunity and batted with urgency to reach 117 without loss in 30 overs when the stumps were drawn.
Chopra, the former solid Indian opener, too played a brisk knock to pile 50 not out off 85 balls while the more adventurous Shikhar Dhawan was keeping him company with 51 not out made off 101 balls.
Brief scores: Rajasthan 295 (Kuldeep Singh 77, Pradeep Sangwan 3 for 76, Parminder Singh Awana 3 for 40) vs Delhi 117 for no loss (Aakash Chopra 50 not out, Shikhar Dhawan 51 not out).
Karnataka takes vital 42-run lead against Maharashtra
Sunil Joshi and KP Appanna shared four eight wickets among themselves to bowl out Maharashtra for lowly 210 and hand Karnataka a crucial 42-run first innings lead in their Group 'B' match at the RSI grounds in Bangalore.
Maharashtra bowlers, however, brought back the visitors in the match, reducing Karanataka to 131 for five at stumps.
Resuming at overnight score of 35 for one, the visitors lost quick wickets to give Karnataka the upper hand in the match.
Opener Harshad Khadiwale top-scored for Maharashtra with 70, while Deepak Shilamkar and Kedar Jadhav chipped in with 39 and 33 respectively.
Appanna and Joshi conceded 40 and 62 runs respectively en route to their four wickets, while while C Raghu picked the remaining two Maharashtra wickets giving away 67.
C Gautam failed to repeat his first innings exploits and could only manage 26 runs in the second essay before he was caught by Shilamkar off Ganesh Gaikwad. KB Pawan (23)and B Akhil (30 not out) were the other notable scorers for the Karnataka.
Gaikwad was the pick of Maharashtra bowlers, picking up three wickets for 35 while and Salil Agarkar took two for 37.
Brief scores: Karnataka 252 and 131 for five vs Maharashtra 210 (Harshad Khadiwale 70, KP Appanna four for 40, Sunil Joshi four for 62).
Hyderabad chase of 177 for win
Chasing a victory target of 177 to win their final elite division match against Saurashtra, Hyderabad were in a spot of bother after losing two quick wickets for 14 at the end of the second day's play in Rajkot.
Hyderabad, who managed a wafer-thin first innings lead of seven runs over the hosts, lost both the openers T Suman (1) and skipper Ravi Teja (10), with M P Arjun (2) and S Anoop Pai (1) were at the crease at the draw of stumps.
The visitors need another 163 runs to win with eight second innings wickets still in hand.
Ravindra Jadeja, who rattled up the visitors in the first innings this morning by taking three wickets and then contributed useful 31 runs in Saurashtra's second innings, provided the initial breakthrough by getting T Suman at first slip. Rakesh Dhruv took the prized wicket of Teja.
Earlier, resuming at their overnight 112 for 6, Hyderabad managed a seven-run lead. Overnight batsmen A Quadri made 32 off 72 balls with three fours and one six, while M P Arjun and S M Soheb contributed 12 and 16 respectively.
For Saurashtra, Balkrishna Jadeja was the wrecker-in- chief taking six wickets for 29 runs, while Ravindra Jadeja finished with three for 57 runs.
In reply, the home team got to a good start as openers Bhushan Chauhan and Chirag Pathak put on 49 runs for the first wicket on a bowler-friendly track, before Chirag Pathak (33) was trapped in front of wicket by Ravi.
Pathak's dismissal triggered a collapse as Saurashtra batsmen surrendered meekly and were bundled out for 183. Bhushan Chauhan (21), Cheteshwar Pujara (20) and Ravindra Jadeja (31) made notable contributions.
For Hyderabad, Amol Shinde (4-13) and Ravi Teja (3-33) shone with the ball.
Brief scores: Saurashtra 133 and 183 (Amol Shinde 4 for 13) vs Hyderabad 140 and 14 for two.
Railways 78 for one in reply to TN's 475 for six
Railways were 78 for one in reply to Tamil Nadu's 475 for six declared at close on the second day of their four-day Group B match.
Centuries by Abhinav Mukund (162), Dinesh Karthik (113) and R Ashwin (103 not out) were the highlights of Tamil Nadu innings.
For Railways, Kulamani Parida (2/68) and Sabir Ali (2 for 80) claimed two wickets each, while Anureet Singh and Deepak Yadav took one each.
After his 210-run third wicket stand with Karthik, Mukund went on to add 72 runs with Suresh Kumar (31; 4X4) for the fifth wicket and 87 for the sixth with Ashwin, whose stand for the unfinished sixth wicket with Ganapathy (31 not out) yielded 83 runs.
In reply, Railways' Prasanjit Das (7) offered a thick edge to wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik off Amarnath in the eighth over of the innings. The other opener, Cheluvraj, who remained unbeaten on 50 and Yere Goud (batting 12) added 66 runs for the unfinished second wicket.
Brief scores: Tamil Nadu 475 for six (Abhinav Mukund 162, Dinesh Karthik 113, R Ashwin not out 103, Kulamani Parida 2 for 68) vs Railways 78 for one.
Parthiv ton saves Gujarat against Orissa
An unbeaten 127 by skipper Parthiv Patel propelled Gujarat's tally from a shaky start to an impressive 210 for three in its first innings on the second day of its match against Orissa in Bhubaneswar.
Resuming from their overnight score of five for no loss, the guests lost the wicket of Rajesh Tabiyar who was run out before any addition to the team's run tally. The visitors lost another early wicket when their score was nine as Niraj Patel was lbw off Debasis Mohanty for three.
However, Gujarat not only recovered from the initial jolt but also surged ahead steadily displaying extraordinary skill and patience to surpass a paltry 162 runs by the hosts.
Taking full control of the game, Parthiv Patel showing exemplary persevarence piled up run after run scoring a century. His run gathering spree did not stop as he went on to amass 127 that contained nine boundaries and was still in the middle at close of the day's play.
Parthiv's spellbinding show lasted 349 minutes as he faced 280 balls.
He was assisted by Priyank Panchal who scored a useful 59 that included three hits to the fence before being caught by wicket-keeper Haldhar Das off Paresh Patel. At the end of the day's play, Parthiv (127) and Bhavik Thakar (4) were at crease.
Brief scores: Orissa 162 vs Gujarat 210 for three (Parthiv Patel 127, Priyank Panchal 59).
Irfan claims seven to hand Baroda first innings lead
Irfan Pathan furthered strengthend his claim for Test return, picking up seven wickets to demolish the Andhra Pradesh for mere 77 runs to hand Baroda a massive 323-run first innings lead in their Group 'B' match at the Motibag ground in Vadodara.
After following on, Andhra Pradesh is at six for no loss at stumps on day two.
Irfan ran through the Andhra batting line up and scalped seven wickets for 35 runs in 10 overs to give Baroda a chance to register an outright win and secure full six points and make their claim strong for a spot in the knock-out stage of the tournament.
Andhra Pradesh last batsman AG Pradeep, however, did not come out to bat due to an injury.
Earlier resuming at overnight score of 201 runs for of one, all Baroda top-order bastmen contributed to take the score to 400.
Apart from overnight unbeaten batsmen Satyajit Parab (130) and Azhar Bilakhia (73), Rakesh Solanki (64) and wicket-keeper Pinal Shah (72) were the other major contributors for the hosts.
For Andhra Pradesh medium pacers T Atchuti Rao took five wickets for 66 runs, while M Suresh scalped three giving away 98.
Brief scores: Baroda 400 all out (Satyajit Parab 130, Azhar Bilakhia 73, Rakesh Solanki 64, Pinal Shah 72, T Achuti Rao 5 for 66, M Suresh 3 for 96) vs Andhra 77 for nine (B Sumanth 21, M Suresh 15, Irfan Pathan 7 for 35) and six for no loss.
