Haryana take lead as 18 wickets fall in Lahli

Maharashtra 105 (Hooda 5-27, Joginder 3-27) trail Haryana 136 (Rana 41, Fallah 5-36, Sanklecha 3-31) by 31 runs
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The pitch in Haryana's homeground in Lahli played true to its nature as 18 wickets went down on the second day of the tie between Haryana and Maharastra, with the home side managing a first-innings lead after being bowled out for 136.

Samad Fallah added to his two wickets on the first day to complete his 12th five-wicket haul that was instrumental in wrapping up the Haryana innings after they were 72 for 2 at one stage. Maharashtra fared worse, losing regular wickets to be bowled out for 105 in 39.1 overs. The best stand for the visitors came down the order as Shrikant Mundhe and Anupam Sanklecha added 31 for the eighth wicket, but the innings closed quickly after the wicket of Sanklecha. This time, right-arm seamer Ashish Hooda did the damage, picking up his maiden first-class five-for. Put together, 18 out of 20 wickets fell to the seamers. The other two were run-outs.

Gujarat 255 for 4 (Merai 87, Parthiv 44) lead Odisha 225 (Natraj 75, Kalaria 6-59) by 30 runs
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Bhargav Merai's unbeaten 87 gave Gujarat a comfortable 30-run lead with six wickets in hand after Odisha were wrapped up for 225 in the morning. Merai was accompanied by Parthiv, and then by Akshar Patel to take them past 250 in their reply.

Gujarat openers Samit Gohel and Priyank Panchal got starts but were caught behind for low double-digit scores. Merai then steered the innings with his fifty, with a stand of 92 for the third wicket with Parthiv, taking the score past 150. However, Parthiv fell six short of his fifty. Rujul Bhatt struck three fours before falling for 19 and Akshar and Merai ensured Gujarat got the lead without any further stutters. Akshar was unbeaten on a brisk 31 off 43 which featured four fours and a six.

Odisha, 219 for 8 overnight, added only six runs as Kushang Patel dismissed Halhadar Das for 32 and Rush Kalaria took the last wicket to end with figures of 6 for 59.

Vidarbha 149 for 6 (Badrinath 62, Kaul 5-44) trail Punjab 195 (Gurkeerat 75, Dhurv 4-56) by 46 runs
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Siddarth Kaul took five wickets and put Punjab in a position to take the first-innings lead by reducing Vidarbha to 149 for 6 on the second day in Nagpur. S Badrinath's fifty was the main source of resistance from Vidarbha as they trail Punjab's score of 195 by 46 runs with four wickets in hand.

Vidarbha were 3 for 0 overnight and lost their openers within four balls, hardly adding anything to the scoreboards in the morning. Badrinath countered with a patient 62 - first with Ganesh Satish briefly and then for a stand of 79 with Shalabh Shrivastava (29) for the fourth wicket to take them past 100. Kaul came back to remove three batsmen for 23 runs by dismissing Shrivastava, Ravi Jangid and then Badrinath. His fourth five-for in first-class matches made sure Vidarbha were not comfortably placed despite being 112 for 3 at one point.

Rajasthan 264 for 2 (Saxena 118, Bist 83*) v Saurashtra
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Rajasthan's top order produced a solid batting performance on the second day of their home game against Saurashtra, with Vineet Saxena scoring his 14th first-class century and Robin Bist nearing one, to set a strong foundation.

Only 24 balls were possible on the first day, but Saurashtra had to wait 147 more balls for their first strike as Saxena and Siddharth Saraf put up 70 for the first wicket. The wait for second wicket was much longer; Saxena and Bist added 149 runs in 46.1 overs during which Saxena completed his century. He was dismissed for 118 by Chirag Jani. Bist, however, continued to add runs in the company of Ashok Menaria, the two adding 45 towards the end of the day, and was unbeaten on 83.