Unmukt Chand century takes Delhi past Railways

Unmukt Chand, the 17-year-old opener playing his fourth first-class game, stood between Railways and the first-innings advantage as wickets tumbled at the other end, and his maiden hundred eventually earned Delhi a 31-run lead at the Roshanara Club. JP Yadav and Sanjay Bangar had ripped the Delhi batting apart on a helpful surface, but they could not find a way past Chand. In a seven-hour effort that included 19 fours and two sixes, he surged to 151, while the next highest score was 39. Six batsmen were out under 10 as Yadav and Bangar took nine wickets between them. But Chand kept hitting boundaries, and was understandably pleased with his effort that took Delhi to 290. "The match is still open. I would term this pitch as a sporting one where both batsmen and bowlers are getting a lot of help." Chand told PTI.

Saurashtra, looking to avoid relegation, were boosted by offspinner Kamlesh Makvana's maiden first-class century which lifted them 423 against Bengal in Rajkot. Makvana batted for almost eight hours and faced 290 deliveries at No. 8 before he was hit on the head by a Ranadeb Bose delivery and had to retire hurt on 108. Makvana was supported by the rest of the lower order after Saurashtra had resumed at 254 for 6. Saurya Sanandiya, Jayesh Odedra and Balkrishna Jadeja faced 234 deliveries and scored 73 runs between them. Odedra ensured Saurashtra finished on a high, bowling opener Arindam Das as Bengal reached 33 for 1 by stumps.

Third-placed Tamil Nadu took four Mumbai wickets in rainy Chennai as the defending champions reached 180 in the 57 overs bowled. Mumbai lost openers Omkar Gurav and Sahil Kukreja early. Gurav fell in the third over bowled by L Balaji without scoring while Kukreja was dismissed by left-arm spinner Aushik Srinivas for 17. Ajinkya Rahane and Wasim Jaffer steadied Mumbai with a 95-run partnership before Balaji returned to bowl Rahane for 49. Abhishek Nayar hit two sixes in his brief innings while Jaffer was unbeaten on yet another half-century.

Gujarat added 61 runs in the 25 overs possible in Guwahati against Assam, and lost two wickets to move to 294 for 5. Medium-pacer Ranjitkumar Mali picked up both the wickets, having Bhavik Thaker caught for 65, and then removing Rajdeep Darbar in what was the last over of the day. Sunny Patel remained unbeaten on 78. With only two days left, it is upto Gujarat to time the declaration and then push for first-innings points, weather permitting.

Karnataka's bowlers, led by Sunil Joshi who reached 600 first-class wickets, demolished Baroda for 169 in Mysore, giving their side a lead of 88 runs. Vinay Kumar had struck an early blow, sending back opener Connor Williams for 11. Kedar Devdhar and Jaykishan Kolsawala made contrasting thirties before both were removed by medium-pacer S Aravind. Rakesh Solanki and Ambati Rayudu had taken the score to 121 for 3 when solanki was trapped leg before by the part-time leg spin of Amit Verma. Vinay, who conceded only 16 runs in as many overs, got the big wicket of Rayudu soon after. Joshi spun out four batsmen in three overs as Baroda's misery was complete. Devdhar's 36 remained the highest score. Karnataka ended on 41 for 1 after losing Robin Uthappa cheaply.

MS Gony ran through Haryana with a four-wicket haul to leave them struggling at 153 for 7 in response to Punjab's 415 in Rohtak. Gony and fellow seamer Jaskaran Singh reduced Haryana to 27 for 3 before Ankit Rawat and Hemang Badani tried to revive the innings with an aggressive 48-run stand. But both batsmen departed after getting starts to plunge Haryana into trouble again. Gony continued to strike, and Haryana were tottering at 104 for 7 at one stage. But allrounder Sachin Rana hit eight boundaries in an unbeaten 38 to ensure no further damage. Haryana, however, were still way behind the follow-on target of 266.

Punjab had earlier collapsed from 353 for 2 to be bowled out for 415. Mandeep Singh made his maiden first-class hundred but Uday Kaul fell short of his eighth by three runs. Left-arm seamer Sanjay Budhwar bowled Kaul and Punjab captain Pankaj Dharmani, and Rana took 4 for 51 with his seamers to finish off the innings.

Only 37 overs were bowled at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack, but that was enough for Orissa to take six wickets as Himachal Pradesh limped to 85. The Orissa seam trio of Debasis Mohanty, Basanth Mohanty and Alok Chandra Sahoo struck regularly after the home side opted to field. Hemant Dogra and Vinit Indulkar got starts but both fell to Sahoo. Himachal captain Paras Dogra was the lone batsmen to resist, remaining unbeaten on 24.