Panchal pummels Punjab with 314*

Priyank Kirit Panchal hit 32 fours in his unbeaten 460-ball 314, propelling Gujarat to 624 for 6 declared against Punjab in Belagavi. The 26-year-old opener is in a rich vein of form, having scored 232 and 56* against Mumbai around a week earlier.

Resuming on 281 for 2 on the second morning, Gujarat lost Rujul Bhatt for 60 early. But Panchal received good support from captain Axar Patel and Rush Kalaria as Gujarat piled on the runs at a good pace before their declaration. RP Singh then dismissed Jiwanjot Singh early, before Punjab closed on 20 for 1.

Bengal clawed back to regain lost ground against Mumbai on day two in Nagpur, courtesy a good all-round showing. Having fought to restrict the first-innings deficit to 130, Bengal moved to 198 for 3 with Sudip Chatterjee (67*) and captain Manoj Tiwary (85*) sharing an unbroken 142-run fourth-wicket stand.

Earlier, Ashok Dinda had taken four of the last five Mumbai wickets to register his 22nd first-class five-wicket haul and bowl Mumbai out for 229, from an overnight score of 164 for 5.

Imtiaz Ahmed's 5 for 34 triggered Railways' collapse from 147 for 2 to 213 all out, giving Uttar Pradesh a 46-run first-innings lead in Rajkot.

Railways, who began the day on 18 for 1, benefitted from a 124-run third-wicket partnership between Saurabh Wakaskar (74) and Arindam Ghosh (58). But Ahmed bowled Ghosh to break that partnership and then rattled through Railways' lower order, with the help of Kuldeep Yadav and Ankit Rajpoot. Uttar Pradesh scored 64 for 2 by stumps.

In Dharamsala, Madhya Pradesh relied on early wickets to claim a 53-run first-innings lead over Baroda. New-ball bowlers Ishwar Pandey and Puneet Datey reduced Baroda to 45 for 5, before Deepak Hooda and Irfan Pathan put up some resistance. But Pandey took three lower-order wickets to finish with 5 for 29 and bowl out Baroda for 164.

Madhya Pradesh then scored 126 for 5 by the close of play, Naman Ojha top-scoring with 57.