All-round Himachal close in on big win

An unbeaten 102 from Bipul Sharma, as well as half-centuries from Nikhil Gangta and Rishi Dhawan, left Himachal Pradesh on the verge of a big win over Assam in Dharamsala.

Himachal were buoyed by their overnight batsmen recording a century-stand for the fifth-wicket as the score neared 250. But even when Dhawan departed for 58, Bipul joined Gangta and continued the scoring, adding 102 runs for the sixth wicket.

Gangta struck 16 fours and a six during his knock, but fell one run short of what would have been his maiden first-class ton. Bipul put up two more useful stands- 58 for the seventh wicket with Ankush Bains and 50 for the ninth with Vikramjeet Malik- that took them to a mammoth 463 for 9, before they declared.

Assam needed 382 to avoid an innings defeat, and that pressure told as they slumped to to 3 for 3 inside five overs. Wickets continued to tumble, with No. 7 Jamaluddin Syed Mohammad top-scoring with 37. However, he was dismissed in the 29th over, leaving the visitors at 97 for 6, with four wickets being shared by Dhawan and Malik.

Goa 252 (Desai 102, Dutta 5-55) and 8 for 0 lead Tripura 174 (Abbas Ali 60, Gadekar 3-28, Yadav 3-31) by 86 runs
Scorecard

An incisive bowling performance from Goa helped them bundle Tripura out for 174 and secure a 48-run first-innings lead in Porvorim.

The spinners Shadab Jakati and Amit Yadav, and medium-pacer Harshad Hanumant Gadekar picked up three wickets apiece to run through a Tripura batting-order which offered no resistance barring a 60 from Abbas Ali, as the visitors were bowled out in 68.3 overs.

Tripura lost their first six wickets for 105 runs, before Abbas and Manisankar Murasingh joined together for a 50-run seventh-wicket stand. Abbas struck six fours during his knock, but after his dismissal- caught off Jakati with the score on 155 - Tripura's tail could only add 19 more runs before their innings came to an end.

Goa's openers Amogh Sunil Desai and Swapnil Asnodkar batted out the nine overs till stumps safely, to leave the team 86 runs ahead and in a strong position heading into the penultimate day. They were earlier dismissed for 252 in the first innings, with medium-pacer Rana Dutta finishing with 5 for 55.

Maharashtra 196 for 3 (Jadhav 97*, Zol 73) trail Andhra 317 (Prasanth 86, Bharat 82, Joseph 3-61) by 121 runs
Scorecard

The match between Andhra and Maharashtra remained evenly poised heading into the third day in Cuddapah.

Vijay Zol and Kedar Jadhav hit fifties to propel Maharashtra to 196 for 3, as the team edged closer towards Andhra's first-innings total of 317. The pair added 118 runs for the third wicket before Zol was dismissed for 73, having struck 12 fours. Jadhav however continued his fabulous run this season, making his way to an unbeaten 97 that included 14 fours and a six. A third consecutive century is on the horizon for Jadhav, after his 204 and 106 against Hyderabad and Goa respectively.

Andhra, who began on an overnight score of 232 for 3, could add only 85 more runs to their total, as Domnic Joseph, Anupam Sanklecha and Akshay Darekar took three wickets apiece to clean them up in 110.1 overs.

Kerala 184 for 2 (Jagadeesh 84*) trail Jammu & Kashmir 377 (Ian Dev 98, Dar 64, P Parameswaran 4-52) by 193 runs
Scorecard

VA Jagadeesh's thirteenth first-class fifty helped Kerala to 184 for 2 in reply to Jammu & Kashmir's first-innings score of 377. Jagadeesh's unbeaten 84 included 12 fours, as he participated in vital stands of 51 and 85 for the second and third wicket with Sanju Samson and Rohan Prem respectively to keep the match in the balance at the end of day two.

J&K were at a healthy 312 for 4 when the day began, but collapsed and lost the remaining six wickets for 65 runs, as seamers Prasanth Parameswaran and Sandeep Warrier finished with four wickets each.