Purkayastha five-for sinks Services

Assam 257 (Roy 81, Syed Mohammad 56, Saurabh 3-47) and 27 for 5 (Saurabh 3-16) beat Services 113 (Nakul 32, Arup 5-40) and 170 (Paliwal 48, Purkayastha 5-29) by five wickets
Scorecard

A five-wicket haul from the offspinner Swarupam Purkayastha fired Assam to a five-wicket victory against Services in Guwahati. Assam, who had already collected a first-innings lead, began the day at 211 for 8, and Jamaluddin Syed Mohammad, coming in at No.8, further enforced their advantage by scoring 56 in the company of the tailenders, as Assam made 257.

Faced with a deficit of 144, Services slumped further behind as they lost wickets at regular intervals to be bundled out for 170. A few of their batsmen made starts, but nobody other than Rajat Paliwal (48) could make a solid contribution, as Purkayastha (5 for 29) and Arup Das (2 for 21) dismissed Services inside 68 overs, setting Assam just 27 for the win.

Assam nearly made a mess of the paltry chase, losing five wickets inside eight overs, but Services had too few runs on the board to defend with, as they fell to their second defeat of the season.

Tripura 184 and 240 for 4 (Solanki 71*, Bose 63, Milind 3-48) trail Hyderabad 491 for 9 declared (Akshath 174, Ravi Teja 100*) by 67 runs
Scorecard

Tripura's top order put up a stern resistance in the second innings, but Hyderabad still held the advantage going into the final day in Agartala. At stumps, Tripura were 240 for 4 and still 67 runs behind. Hyderabad declared early in the day at 491 for 9 after Dwaraka Ravi Teja (100 not out) reached his century, with a lead of 307 in hand.

However, Tripura, who had been shot out for 184 in the first innings, showed more fight in their second essay, as fifties from Udiyan Bose (63) and Rakesh Solanki (71 not out) ensured that the team batted throughout the day. Chama Milind picked up three wickets for Hyderabad, but the visitors were left frustrated by Solanki and the captain Rajesh Banik, who put up an unbroken stand worth 106 runs for the fifth wicket.

Kerala 196 and 61 for 4 (Surendran 23) trail Himachal Pradesh 517 (Dogra 166, Bipul 118, Bains 44, Jaiswal 35) by 260 runs
Scorecard

A 181-run partnership between Paras Dogra and Bipul Sharma left Himachal Pradesh in a commanding position to secure an outright victory against Kerala on the final day in Dharamsala. Starting the day at 287 for 6, Dogra and Bipul's sixth-wicket association lifted Himachal to 517. Dogra, who had already reached his hundred on day two, scored 166 with 19 fours and two sixes, while Bipul's 118, his third first-class ton, featured eight fours and three sixes.

To further enforce Himachal's dominance, Pankaj Jaiswal, the No.11 batsman, slammed 35 off 11 balls, with two fours and four sixes, as the hosts collected a lead of 321. Jaiswal and Bipul then took a wicket each, as Kerala fell to 61 for 4 before stumps were called, trailing by 260 runs.

Andhra 304 (Sriram 71, Shivkumar 64, Pradeep 53) and 10 for 0 need another 37 runs to beat Jharkhand 246 and 104 (Stephen 6-32)
Scorecard

Fifties from AG Pradeep and Duvvarapu Shivkumar, followed by a six-for from the medium-pacer Cheepurapalli Stephen left Andhra on the cusp of a big win against Jharkhand in Vizianagaram. Andhra began the day at 179 for 4, but Pradeep's 53 and Shivkumar's 64 lifted the team to 304, earning them a lead of 58. For Jharkhand, Rituraj Singh and Ashish Kumar took three scalps each.

Jharkhand's second essay was blighted by wickets right from the off, as only three batsmen were able to reach double digits. Stephen collected 6 for 32 to rattle the team's top and middle order, while Kakani Harish chipped in with 2 for 28 to bowl Jharkhand out for 104 in 46 overs. Set a modest target of 47, Andhra were 10 for 0 at stumps.