Devdhar, bowlers lead Baroda to innings win

On a day when only two wickets fell, Saurabh Wakaskar's unbeaten century, his fifth in first-class cricket, established a strong base for his team-mates to rally around, as Railways ended the day with a lead of 171. Giving Wakaskar support was V Cheluvaraj, who brought up his fourth fifty in five innings, and together they raised an unbroken stand of 180 runs.

Wakaskar's effort lasted nearly six hours, as he accumulated runs without any real frenetic burst; there were instead plenty of back glides, cuts and smooth cover drives. Only late in the innings did he strike a couple of sixes. Cheluvaraj, too, was content playing a restrained role, while finding ways to collect runs when he so wished.

It was a forgettable day for Mumbai's bowlers - seven of whom were used - who could not manage more than one wicket. The pitch, while offering appreciable turn, did not supply any venom for the ball to feed off; the batsmen had enough time to play their strokes and, if required, make late adjustments to them.

It was only a matter of time before openers Wakaskar and Ashish Singh eased into a solid start, with runs coming at an increasingly brisk pace. Mumbai missed an opportunity to land an early blow, when Nikhil Patil at first slip put down Ashish after Shardul Thakur had induced the edge in the second over. Ashish, then on 0, went on to contribute 44 to the first-wicket stand of 105 in 28.5 overs. Ashish was the first one to launch an assault against the spinners, swinging them with and against the spin between deep midwicket and long-on.

Even as left-arm spinner Vishal Dabholkar had Ashish lbw, the dismissal did not result in a knock-on effect, as Wakaskar and Cheluvaraj knuckled down for a long stay at the crease. Mumbai did fiddle around with their bowling and fielding. When part-time offspinner Siddhesh Lad was deployed, he was for the most part bowling with six fielders on the leg side, and eventually seven. The hosts even resorted to bowling a negative line on occasions, but that did not break the batsmen's concentration.

In the morning, Mumbai's lasted merely six minutes, as they lost their last wicket after adding merely a run to their overnight score of 330 for 9. Nikhil Patil was left stranded on 83. Leg-spinner Karn Sharma trapped Dabholkar in front to finish with seven wickets.

Munaf Patel and Irfan Pathan lead Baroda to an innings and 116-run victory over Punjab, as both pacers ended with match-hauls of six wickets in Vadodara.

Starting the day at 112 for 3, Punjab folded for 212 as Pathan and Munaf ran through the team's middle order after overnight batsmen Yuvraj Singh and Uday Kaul were dismissed early on. Hardik Pandya helped clean up Punjab's tail, dismissing three of the last four batsmen.

Baroda then enforced the follow-on as Punjab trailed by 263, after which the strong Baroda pace-attack reduced Punjab to 77 for 8. Siddharth Kaul provided Punjab with some resistance with an unbeaten 40, but his side was eventually bowled out for 147. Kedar Devdhar was named the Man of the Match for his 186 in the first innings which had steered Punjab to 475.

Suresh Raina's unbeaten century helped Uttar Pradesh set Tamil Nadu a fourth-innings target of 391 in Kanpur. Raina's unbeaten 145 came off just 138 balls, and included nine fours and six sixes.

Almas Shaukat supported his captain by scoring 75, his second half-century in the game, as Uttar Pradesh declared at 273 for 5 in their second innings. Tamil Nadu were bowled out for 231 earlier in the day after starting day three at 174 for 6. Praveen Kumar led Uttar Pradesh's attack with figures of 4 for 65. Tamil Nadu played out eight overs late in the managing just five runs without losing any wickets.

Jalaj Saxena, who took a record 16 wickets in the previous round, continued his Ranji season to remember by picking up 6 for 60 to help Madhya Pradesh bowl Gujarat out for 202 in the second innings. Jalaj's haul meant Madhya Pradesh were set a target of 314. Madhya Pradesh added just 13 to their overnight score, as they were bowled out for 200 in the first innings. Jasprit Bumrah was the pick of Gujarat's bowlers with figures of 3 for 21, while Naman Ojha top-scored for Madhya Pradesh with 56. The visitors played out two overs late in the day without losing a wicket.