Jalaj Saxena helps MP set Mumbai 280 target

Jalaj Saxena took his fourth five-wicket haul in seven matches, also taking his season tally to 40 wickets, then strapped up his pads and struck 79 of the 201 runs Madhya Pradesh put up in the second innings. That meant Mumbai were set a target of 280 to win in Indore.

Resuming their first innings at 72 for 6, Mumbai's final four wickets contributed 90 runs. Still Madhya Pradesh stuck to Plan A. They used just two spinners throughout the innings - Saxena and Ankit Sharma, who both collect five-fors - to bundle Mumbai out for 162, and collect a substantial lead of 78.

Mumbai took a hint from their first innings and started with a spinner of their own and reaped immediate reward. Vishal Dabholkar had Tanmay Srivastava stumped off the second ball of the innings. Saxena and Harpreet Singh temporarily steadied the ship with a 44-run stand before wickets fell in regular intervals thereafter to leave Madhya Pradesh at 110 for 5.

Captain Devendra Bundela (42) and Saxena added 48 for the sixth wicket, but Saxena's dismissal elicited a collapse as Mumbai bore into the lower order to bowl Madhya Pradesh out for 201. Shardul Thakur and Iqbal Abdullah picked up three wickets apiece.

Railways, who had made only 182 in their first innings, bounced back on the second day to take a first-innings lead. Karn Sharma and Anureet Singh combined to take eight wickets as Andhra were bowled out for 114 in Delhi.

Prasanth Kumar - the only Andhra batsman to score above 15 - offered some resistance with his 49, before Karn, who took his third five-wicket haul in as many matches, had him caught with the score at 92. The tail crumbled thereafter and Railways gained a lead of 68.

But Andhra's bowlers kept their hopes alive as D Siva Kumar removed Ashish Singh in the fifth over. Saurabh Wakaskar (38) and V Cheluvaraj (18) held things steady with a 58-run partnership, but B Sudhakar broke through and went on to take three further wickets to ensure Railways did not run away with the game. At least until Ashish Yadav came in at No. 8 and struck a counterattacking 55 to stretch the lead to 262 at stumps.

A second consecutive day's play was washed out without a ball being bowled in Tirunelveli. With hopes of an outright win fading away, both teams will be looking to garner first-innings points if play is possible on the final two days. Gujarat are second on the points table with 22 points, while Tamil Nadu are sixth.

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