Bist, Bishnoi help Rajasthan to lead

Rajasthan 345 for 3 (Bisht, Bishnoi) lead Services 325 (Paliwal 108*, Desai 65, Pankaj 5-98) by 20 runs
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Centuries by Robin Bist and Rajesh Bishnoi helped Rajasthan take a lead against Services in Delhi. The two batsmen added 210 runs for the third wicket bringing Rajasthan to within 15 runs of the Services first-innings total.

Bishnoi was the only wicket to fall on the day on which only 214 runs were added. It was Bishnoi's second 100-plus innings this season after his century in the first match against Saurashtra and it came off 267 deliveries. But Bist remained unbeaten on 107 after a marathon 344-ball innings and will look to push the score further on the last day.

Baroda 176 and 33 for 1 (Wakaskar 27*) trail Railways 441 for 8 dec (Ghosh 208*, Rawat 67) by 232 runs
Scorecard

Arindam Ghosh's maiden first-class ton, which he converted into a double-hundred, took Railways to a commanding position with a lead of 265 runs against Baroda. The century ensured Railways put on a huge score and gave them a chance to even push for a win, for which they need nine wickets.

Ghosh and HD Rawle started the day at 76 and 50 respectively but the latter could add only 10 more to his overnight score before he was caught behind. Ghosh was joined by Mahesh Rawat and the duo added to Baroda's trouble with a century stand for the fifth wicket. Ghosh completed his hundred as the duo stretched the lead beyond 200. Rawat's dismissal came just before Railways reached 400 as he was stumped for 67.

Railways then saw a flurry of wickets, of Karn Sharma, Murali Kartik and Anureet Singh, for 10 runs before they declared.

Baroda batted for 17 overs and lost Aditya Waghmode's wicket to Anureet for 1, and Saurabh Wakaskar and Abhimanyu Chauhan saw them till stumps.

Offspinner Jalaj Saxena took his best first-class figures of 6 for 53 to help dismiss Bengal for 263 and making them follow-on on the third day in Kolkata. Bengal lost their last eight wickets for 68 runs, despite a hundred from opener Arindam Das. Trailing by 125 in the second innings too, Bengal face a tough task of drawing the match on the fourth and last day.

They started the day at a comfortable 117 for 1 with Arindam and Anustup Majumdar at the crease. On the second over of the day, Majumdar was bowled by Amarjeet Singh. Wriddhiman Saha and Arindam then steered the innings with a 72-run stand but Saxena got the better of Saha for 39. This triggered the collapse as Saxena went on to take five more. Four of the remaining seven batsmen reached double-figures but failed to build on the platform laid by Arindam who later fell for 104 and Bengal fell 19 short of avoiding the follow-on.

However, in the second attempt, their openers survived 27 overs without any damage.

Opener Mukul Dagar scored an aggressive 92 on the third day, but UP's position in the match remained dire after Saurashtra had amassed 632 runs in the first innings in Rajkot. Dagar hit 16 fours and a six in his 135-ball innings and added 139 for the second wicket with Mohammad Kaif, who scored 49. After Dagar's dismissal, Jaydev Unadkat dismissed Kaif and Suresh Raina, who scored 10, in quick succession to give Saurashtra the upper hand. On the third morning, Saurashtra had already consolidated their position by adding quick 62 runs during which Kamlesh Makvana reached his third first-class century. He was unbeaten on 101 off 174 deliveries when Saurashtra declared.