Karnataka bowlers, Delhi openers lead fightbacks

Delhi openers Gautam Gambhir and Unmukt Chand, their captain and vice-captain respectively, struck fifties to salvage their position and take a lead of 74 runs with nine wickets in hand in Jaipur. Delhi's fightback started when they did not allow the Rajasthan batsmen to convert their starts into big scores - five of them crossed 35 but only one made a fifty - and kept them to 240.

Continuing from 74 for 3, Puneet Yadav (46) and Ashok Menaria (38) took Rajasthan towards 150 but Parvinder Awana dismissed both within three balls and Rajesh Bishnoi's duck left them on 143 for 6, leading by five runs. Dishant Yagnik and Deepak Chahar stalled the fall of wickets with a stand of 87 runs before another mini-collapse ended Rajasthan's innings. Yagnik struck a 56-ball 40 while No. 8 Chahar scored 50 off 48 with six fours and three sixes to put the pressure back on Delhi.

Milind Kumar broke the stand and left-arm spinner Manan Sharma bowled the remaining three batsmen for only five runs to restrict Rajasthan's lead to 102. Manan and Narwal finished with three wickets each.

Chand and Gambhir's opening stand of 166 made sure Delhi did not slump like their first innings. Both batsmen played patient innings in their alliance of three-and-a-half hours that was broken by 20-year-old debutant Nathu Singh, marked as a promising fast bowler. Once Chand was caught behind for 84, that included 13 fours, Delhi sent out Pradeep Sangwan as nightwatchman, and he stayed unbeaten with Gambhir on 77 with the score on 176 for 1.

A collective effort from Karnataka's bowlers brought about a collapse from Assam, as the hosts lost nine wickets for 103 runs in Guwahati and were limited to a first-innings lead of only seven runs. Assam had begun the day on 21 for 1 and progressed to 91 before they were jolted by losing their captain Gokul Sharma and PP Das in successive overs. Former Karnataka batsman Amit Verma held one end up with a half-century, but there was a steady stream of wickets at the other with the last six batsmen falling in single digits. Vinay Kumar, Shreyas Gopal and Karun Nair took two wickets each for Karnataka, and Assam were dismissed for 194.

Karnataka's openers Ravikumar Samarth and Mayank Agarwal wiped out the deficit and had added 77 by stumps on the second day, wresting back the advantage for the defending champions.

Odisha 79 for 2 trail Vidarbha 467 (Yadav 128*, Shanware 119) by 388 runs
Scorecard
Fast bowler Umesh Yadav smashed 128 off 119 balls from No. 9, his maiden first-class hundred lifting Vidarbha to 467 on the second day in Nagpur. He began his onslaught after Vidarbha had lost two early wickets to slip to 293 for 8, adding 102 runs for the ninth wicket with Akshay Wakhare, who made 34. He then added another 72 runs with last man Ravikumar Thakur, whose contribution was 8. Yadav remained unbeaten, having hit seven sixes and seven fours in his innings.

Vidarbha consolidated their advantage by striking in successive overs, dismissing both Odisha openers with the score on 45. Wakhare and Thakur were the successful bowlers, and with Odisha 388 runs behind, Vidarbha were well placed to push for a first-innings lead.

Maharashtra 7 for 0 trail Haryana 335 (Rana 157, Sehwag 92, Dhumal 3-55) by 328 runs
Scorecard
Only 19.1 overs of play were possible on the second day in Pune because of rain. Resuming on 303 for 6, Haryana were dismissed for 335, with Domnic Muthusami and Nikit Dhumal taking the wickets. Himanshu Rana, who celebrated his 17th birthday with a hundred on Thursday, achieved a career best 157 before he became the first wicket to fall on the second day - run out by Muthusami. Haryana then lost their last three wickets for four runs.

Maharashtra batted only three overs and got to 7 for 0 before play had to be abandoned.