Nabi seals thumping J&K win

Jammu and Kashmir raced to the top of Group B with a thumping 194-run win over Kerala in Jammu. They had secured a 31-run first-innings lead on day two, and extended it to 188 with four wickets in hand. Boosted by Hiken Shah's 80, which was also supported by important contributions from the lower order, J&K posted 244 in their second innings - Sony Cheruvathur took 4 for 58 and took his match tally to ten - and set the opposition a challenging target of 276. Kerala, in their chase, surrendered meekly with just three players reaching double-figures. Raiphi Gomez top scored with 34 but the burst from Abid Nabi, who took 5 for 27 and finished with nine in the match, shut them out for 81 to push them to the bottom of the table.

In a game wrecked by rain, Madhya Pradesh got themselves some batting practice on the third day in Vijaywada, reaching 272 for 4 at stumps. They were propped up by half-centuries from Devendra Bundela and Hrishikesh Kanitkar, who added 150 for the third wicket. Both were dismissed by Tekkami Atchuti, the left-arm seamer, but Abbas Ali and Monish Mishra added an unbeaten 45 for the fifth wicket to help their team finish on a strong position.

Assam have their middle order to thank for securing them a first-innings lead against Jharkhand in Guwahati. Starting the day on a comfortable 147 for 1 in pursuit of 261, Assam lost four quick wickets, for just 22 runs. But Dhiraj Goswami chipped in with 22, adding 42 with Sairaj Bahutule (34), who then put together 41 with half-centurion Kunal Saikia. Saikia took his team into the lead, batting with the tail, and extended the advantage by 37 runs, as Assam were bowled out for 298. Jharkhand erased the deficit but not before Abu Nechim had delivered an early jolt, taking three wickets to limit them to 32 for 3 at one stage. They recovered to 88 for 3 at stumps.

Rajasthan's batsmen failed to measure up to Goa's bowlers in Margao, as they were bowled out for 225 and conceded a 113-run lead. Rahul Kanwat top scored with an unbeaten 60 and though the others got starts, they failed to consolidate. Three other batsmen were dismissed after going past 30. For Goa, Shadab Jakati and Saurabh Bandekar (3 for 72) shared seven wickets and kept chipping away even as the opposition tried to combat them with handy partnerships. At stumps, Goa were seven without loss.

Vidarbha held the advantage against Tripura in Nagpur. They didn't take long to fold for 222 on the third morning, but fought back brilliantly with the ball, skittling out Tripura for a paltry 151 and securing the first-innings lead. Vidarbha created problems early, grabbing the first five wickets for 69. Their bowling effort was a collective one; Alind Naidu took three wickets, while three others took two each. Tripura captain Rajib Dutta fought with 42, but it proved inadquate amid little support from the rest. Wilkin Mota, who took 4 for 44 in the first innings, bagged two quick wickets in the second, but by stumps Vidarbha led by 111 with eight wickets, including Naidu, who is unbeaten on 25, intact.