Semi-finals feature tons of runs

Mumbai 389 for 3 (Mane 154, Kambli 100) lead Hyderabad 166 by 223 runs
Scorecard

Vinayak Mane and Vinod Kambli ground the Hyderabad bowling down as their 183-run stand put Mumbai in a commanding position at the end of the second day's play at the Wankhede Stadium. After the early loss of Wasim Jaffer, Mane and Kambli were hardly troubled by the Hyderabad spinners, and were quick to latch on to anything loose. Shivaji Yadav, the offspinner, and Venkatapathy Raju, the left-arm spinner, often resorted to negative tactics by placing six fielders on the on side and pegging away outside leg stump. But Kambli and Mane kept the scoreboard ticking with some deftly placed singles and capitalised on anything short or slightly wide. Kambli fell immediately after reaching his century, slashing at a wide one from Yadav. But Mane shifted gears after getting to his hundred, and delighted the sparse crowd with some crisp cuts. He was out after making 154 when he top-edged a sweep off Raju. Amol Muzumdar showed some good footwork on his way to an unbeaten 42 before stumps were drawn.

Railways 18 for 0 trail Tamil Nadu 481 (Sriram 172, Karthik 122) by 463 runs
Scorecard

The game at Chennai had been evenly balanced at the end of the first day with Tamil Nadu on 244 for 6. But a massive 212-run stand between Sridharan Sriram and Dinesh Karthik put Tamil Nadu in a dominant position after two days. Karthik hammered four sixes and 12 fours in his knock, and at 441 for 6, Railways needed a breakthrough desperately. But then Karthik fell to Yere Goud and Sriram, after stroking 17 fours and a six, was run out a few overs later. The tail didn't offer much resistance, and the innings finished on 481. Kulamani Parida and Jai Prakash Yadav bowled 78 overs between them, and were rewarded with two wickets apiece. Railways' openers negotiated the eight overs that were left in the day, but Railways will need similar resistance tomorro - if not much more - to have a chance in the match.

Madhya Pradesh 132 for 2 (Ojha 72*) trail Orissa 318 (Mullick 142*, Golwalkar 6-95) by 186 runs
Scorecard

Pravanjan Mullick managed to complete his century, but Madhya Pradesh came back strongly by the end of the second day's play at Cuttack. Mullick lost partners at regular intervals, and Yogesh Golwalkar, the offspinner, polished off the tail to finish with a six-wicket haul. Mullick finally ran out of support and was left stranded on 142. He hit 11 fours and five sixes in his entertaining knock.

Maharashtra 260 for 1 (Jhadav 126*, Kanitkar 82*) lead Haryana 236 (Shafiq 114) by 24 runs
Scorecard

Dheeraj Jhadav and Hrishikesh Kanitkar put Maharashtra in complete control of their semi-final at Pune. Their 175-run stand enabled Maharashtra to ease past the Haryana total, and both were still unbeaten at the end of the day. Earlier Haryana managed to add only 18 to their overnight total as Adhav and Ranjit Khirid snapped up three wickets each.