Bains ton helps Himachal dominate

Ankush Bains' second first-class century of the season and his unbeaten 174-run, second-wicket partnership with Ankit Kalsi set up a strong platform for Himachal Pradesh against Jharkhand in Dharamsala.

The pair came together with Himachal's score at 21 for 1 in the fifth over of the day and thwarted Jharkhand for the next 65.5 overs. Bains scored 20 fours in his 110 off 224 deliveries, while Kalsi finished the day unbeaten on 69 off 189 deliveries.

Andhra fast bowler D Siva Kumar's career-best innings haul of 7 for 30 bundled Tripura out for 151 in Ongole. Siva Kumar gave Andhra a strong start after they opted to field, dismissing Tripura's top three batsmen by the 12th over with the score at 39. The rest of the line-up failed to forge partnerships and the side's best stands - 35 and 33 - came for the ninth and tenth wickets respectively as Rana Dutta and Kaushal Acharjee offered some resistance. Andhra's innings got off to a shaky start, too, as the side were struggling at 9 for 2 in the third over, following Manisankar Murasingh's strikes. Mohammad Kaif anchored the innings with an unbeaten 40 and put the side within 54 runs of Tripura's score by close of play.

Fifties from Sibsankar Roy and Gokul Sharma helped Assam reach a promising 248 for 4 in their game against Hyderabad in Uppal. Assam's openers, Pallavkumar Das and KB Arun Karthik, gave the side a solid start after opting to bat first with a 56-run stand. After the openers fell, Roy and Gokul consolidated with a 112-run partnership. Gokul was dismissed for 54 off 121 deliveries, while Roy fell after scoring 72 off 183 deliveries.

Fifties from Sagun Kamat, Darshan Misal and Saurabh Bandekar propped Goa's innings as they reached 253 for 5 against Services. The half-centuries helped the side tide over the low scores from the other batsmen. Goa lost opener Prathamesh Gawas soon after being put in to bat but Amogh Desai and Kamat steadied the innings with a partnership of 53 runs. Goa kept losing wickets in pairs, but the stands between Kamat and Misal, and later Misal and Bandekar ensured runs were being accumulated. While Kamat was dismissed for 84, Misal and Bandekar were both unbeaten on 65 and 55 respectively at close of play, with the partnership between the pair stretching to 97 runs.