Rajpoot, Imtiaz dismiss MP for 115
A round-up of the third day's play of the eighth-round Group B games of the Ranji Trophy 2013-14
ESPNcricinfo staff
24-Dec-2013
Uttar Pradesh 250 and 78 for 3 (Raina 41*) lead Madhya Pradesh 115 (Rajpoot 5-37, Imtiaz 4-39) by 213 runs
Scorecard
Scorecard
Uttar Pradesh's pace duo of Ankit Rajpoot and Imtiaz Ahmed took nine wickets between them to dismiss Madhya Pradesh for 115. By close of play, UP had extended their 135-run lead to 213, with Suresh Raina unbeaten on 41.
The second day of the match was lost to bad weather, but Rajpoot gave UP an early advantage on the third morning, dismissing openers Jalaj Saxena and Zafar Ali in successive overs. The MP middle order got starts, but kept losing wickets regularly and produced only two partnerships of any note - a 30-run fourth-wicket stand between Devendra Bundela and Mohnish Mishra and 37 runs for the seventh wicket between Anand Bais and Salman Beig. Rajpoot, playing his second match of the season, finished with figures of 5 for 37 while Imtiaz took 4 for 39. UP were struggling at 20 for 2 in their second innings before Raina steadied things.
Rajasthan 307 for 4 (Saxena 83, Saraf 63, Menaria 62) trail Tamil Nadu 318 by 11 runs
Scorecard
Scorecard
Rajasthan were all set to take the first-innings lead against Tamil Nadu after an opening partnership of 163 between Vineet Saxena and Siddharth Saraf. The duo began the day with the score on 89 and proceeded to make half-centuries each. Tamil Nadu hit back with three quick wickets but Rajasthan captain Hrishikesh Kanitkar stonewalled his way to an unbeaten 38 off 154 balls to deny the hosts. Ashok Menaria stroked 62 off 69 at the other end, taking the game away from Tamil Nadu. Rajesh Bishnoi was giving his captain company at stumps on 20.
Railways 107 and 224 for 6 (Rawat 67*, Suraj 3-48) lead Services 153 (Yashpal 67, Anureet 4-44, Karn 3-25) by 178 runs
Scorecard
Scorecard
Railways collapsed after a strong start and were propped up by Mahesh Rawat's unbeaten fifty against Services in Delhi. Shivakant Shukla and Murali Kartik put on 75 upfront but seamer Suraj Yadav's three wickets stunned Railways. Shadab Nazar picked up the next two as Railways slid to 130 for 6, an overall lead of only 84. Rawat stroked an unconquered 67 and Ashish Yadav dug in with 32 to resist Services' charge and increase the lead to 178. Earlier, Services were bowled out for 153, adding only two runs to their overnight 151 for 8.
