J&K bat for survival after Maharashtra's 401

Jammu & Kashmir 85 (Fallah 4-32, Mundhe 3-21) and 131 for 1 (Haroon 54*, Bandeep 42*) trail Maharashtra 401 for 9 dec (Khadiwale 87, Motwani 84, Mudhasir 5-87, Beigh 4-126) by 185 runs
Scorecard

Three half-centuries from Maharashtra gave them a handy 316-run first-innings lead as they declared on 401 for 9 on the second day in Pune after routing Jammu & Kashmir for 85 on the first day. Harshad Khadiwale, Sangram Atitkar and Rohit Motwani scored fifties before J&K ended the day on 131 for 1.

Maharashtra started the day with early stutters as Khadiwale scored eight to add to his overnight score of 79, before he was caught behind off Samiullah Beigh. Six overs later, his partner Kedar Jadhav was sent back in similar fashion by Beigh for 41 and before another run could be added to the score, medium-pacer Mohammed Mudhasir struck in consecutive balls to dismiss Ankit Bawne and Shrikant Mundhe, to leave the score at 240 for 6. Captain Motwani avoided any further troubles for the next 10 overs with a stand of 47 with Akshay Darekar.

But Mudhasire came back and had Darekar caught for 23. Motwani resisted more and took the score past 350 in the company of Anupam Sanklecha who scored 37 with three sixes and a four. Mudhasir also denied Motwani a hundred when he had the batsman caught for 84 and Maharashtra declared soon after crossing the 400-run mark. Mudhasir finished with 5 for 87, his second consecutive five-for, and Beigh took four wickets as Parvez Rasool went wicketless in 18 overs.

J&K fared much better than their first-innings performance with Obaid Haroon and Bandeep Singh unbeaten on 54 and 42 at stumps after Adil Rishi gave a return catch to Mundhe for 26. With two days to go, they still have a tough task as they trail by 185 runs.

Goa 190 for 2 (Desai 97, Asnodkar 57) trail Assam 247 (Mohammad 101*, Gadekar 5-33) by 57 runs
Scorecard

Half-centuries from Goa openers Amogh Desai and Swapnil Asnodkar took Goa to a comfortable position and within 57 runs of Assam's total with eight wickets in hand on the second day in Guwahati. Assam were restricted to 247 shortly after Jamaluddin Syed Mohammad scored his maiden first-class hundred and was unbeaten on 101.

Assam added 11 runs to their overnight score before Desai and Asnodkar put on a strong stand of 136. Jamaluddin stayed in the limelight as he broke the stand when he had Asnodkar caught for 57. Desai continued at the other end stitched a partnership of 51 with Sagun Kamat. However, Arup Das bowled Desai when he was only three away from what would have been his fourth first-class hundred and third of the season.

Kamat and captain Ravikant Shukla played ten deliveries together to help Goa finish on 190 for 2.

Tripura 588 for 6 (Takawale 212, Murasingh 150, Ali 105*) v Hyderabad
Scorecard

Yogesh Takawale registered his maiden double-hundred and his third century of the season as he, Manisankar Murasingh and Abbas Ali helped Tripura cross the 500-mark for the first time. While Murasingh was dismissed for 150, Takawale scored 212 and Ali was unbeaten on 105 with the team score at 588 for 6 on the second day in Hyderabad.

Murasingh could add only 10 to his overnight score before he became Ravi Kiran's second wicket, ending the third-wicket stand of 206 runs. Takawale resumed the day on 65 and was unstoppable at the other end even though his new partner, Abhijit Dey, was trapped lbw for 12. Takawale and Ali then piled on more agony on the hosts, not giving them any success for over 50 overs. Takawale notched his double-century and faced 400 deliveries which included 18 fours and three sixes.

The stand was finally broken by legspinner Ravi Teja, who bowled Takawale for 212. Kaushal Acharjee was also sent back soon and Ali scored his 17th first-class hundred at the other end. With him unbeaten on 105, and the team score at 588 for 6, there was no declaration.

Himachal Pradesh 174 (Prasanth 7-54) and 110 for 7 (Dhawan 33*, Manoharan 4-35) need a further 86 runs to beat Kerala 214 and 155 (Baby 43, Bipul 4-32)
Scorecard

The vagaries of Group C Ranji cricket: you blink and many times things happen really fast. Like on Saturday. Thirty-seven wickets fell in six sessions of play in Kannur, with the spinners bagging 21 of those. If 15 wickets fell on the first day, that count climbed to a mind-boggling 22 on the second. Himachal Pradesh were set a target of 196, but were still 86 short with only three wickets in hand, thus giving the hosts Kerala a foot in the door. Read the full report here.