Pandey and Gautam put Karnataka on top

Karnataka and Orissa appeared to be heading towards a closely-fought contest at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore but the pair of Manish Pandey and CM Gautam ensured it was one-way traffic at stumps. The Orissa seamers, led by Alok Sahoo who picked up three wickets, had rattled the hosts, reducing them to 54 for 5 at one stage. Karnataka were replying to a score of 191 and seemed to be struggling to even manage a first-innings lead. But Pandey and Gautam smashed centuries, ensuring the pressure was off early by scoring runs quickly. Pandey's unbeaten 144 was laced with 12 fours and five sixes while Gautam, who took even less time, made as many runs with 21 fours and a six. The stand is worth 294 and looks good for more as Karnataka now target an innings win.

There was no play on the second day of the contest between Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh at the Green Park Stadium in Kanpur, due to rain.

A combined batting effort from Baroda propelled them to 416 on the second day at the Moti Bagh Stadium in Vadodara against Punjab. Keen to recover from the shocking collapse that proved their undoing against Uttar Pradesh in their previous Ranji Trophy game, Baroda's top and middle-order batsmen stepped up, with four of them scoring half-centuries. Opener Connor Williams scored a patient 73, Kedar Devdhar supported him in a 126-run stand for the second wicket, Ambati Rayudu top scored with 79 and wicketkeeper-captain Pinal Shah chipped in with 63. Legspinner Sarabjit Ladda bagged a five-for, while Karan Goel complement that effort with offspin that fetched four wickets. In reply, Punjab lost opener Ravi Inder Singh early and finished on 10 for 1 at stumps.

S Badrinath and Abhinav Mukund have had an excellent Ranji Trophy thus far and they made sure their enjoyment continued, scoring hundreds for Tamil Nadu against Railways at the Indian Institute of Technology Chemplast Ground in Chennai. Mukund followed up his double-ton in the previous game with an unbeaten 108, while Badrinath scored his third century of the tournament, the pair adding an unbeaten 208 for the third wicket. Both approached the game steadily to help their team recover from 36 for 2 and end the day on 244 for 2.

On another rain-affected day at the Sardar Patel Stadium in Motera, Gujarat steered themselves to 162 for 3 against Bengal. Opener Priyank Panchal helped the hosts recover from the loss of an early wicket by top scoring with 63, and Niraj Patel backed him up in a 94-run stand for the second wicket. Seamer Ranadeb Bose was the pick of the bowlers, taking all three wickets. Gujarat captain Parthiv Patel was unbeaten on 23 at stumps.

Rain continued to mar the contest between Mumbai and Assam at the Bandra Kurla Complex in Mumbai. However, there was another disappointment for Mumbai fans as well. Amol Muzumdar, the former Mumbai captain now playing for Assam, was dismissed for just 1 on his return to his former home. Assam were on 81 for 3 at stumps.

Saurashtra and Delhi were left with no choice but to confine themselves to the dressing room as play was washed out for the second consecutive day at the Khandheri Cricket Stadium in Rajkot.