Vohra, Yuvraj flay Gujarat; Bharat ton protects Andhra's run

Yuvraj Singh's first score of substance this season meant Gujarat were in danger of conceding a first-innings lead despite stacking up 467 in Mohali. Punjab, who started the day at 131 for 1, were well placed at 434 for 5 at stumps, with Yuvraj unbeaten on 85.

Manan Vohra contributed to the changing of tides with his second first-class ton, a measured innings of 104 off 229 balls, with 14 fours. Gujarat's relief at his wicket - the only one for offspinner Ramesh Powar in 34 overs - was but fleeting as Yuvraj and Mandeep Singh produced a counterattacking stand of 118 runs in only 125 balls. Mandeep made 63 before a mix up resulted in his run out. Himanshu Chawla then contributed a handy 31 to add to Gujarat's woes despite batting themselves into a good position courtesy centuries from Priyank Panchal and Parthiv Patel yesterday.

Srikar Bharat and Ricky Bhui stamped Andhra's dominance as they pocketed their third straight first-innings points in Vizianagaram. Bharat, who played a key role in the team's march to the quarterfinals last season, top scored with 144. His 147-run stand with Bhui, who was unbeaten on 90, kept the Baroda bowlers at bay for large parts of the day. Swapnil Singh, the left-arm spinner, broke through to dismiss Bharat, but Bhui and AG Pradeep (33*) ensured Andhra coasted their way through to a lead.

A batting meltdown resulted in Uttar Pradesh ceding control of their game to Railways in Ghaziabad. UP, the home team, lost eight wickets for 95 runs on the third day and were bowled out for 264.

Medium-pacer Ranjit Mali was the wrecker-in-chief with 5 for 88. There were six single-digit scores - Mali was responsible for two of them. He struck in the fourth over of the day (75th of the innings) to get rid of Mohammad Saif. Then Anureet Singh took the cue and claimed a double-strike in the very next over to leave UP at 180 for 5. They had begun the day 169 for 2.

Piyush Chawla did his best with 49 off 85 balls, but he fell to Mali who also took out the last man Ankit Rajpoot for a duck to record his third first-class five-wicket haul. Amidst the doom and gloom for UP, Tanmay Srivastava did his credentials no harm by top-scoring with 93.

With the first-innings lead pocketed, Railways batted through to 155 for 3 at stumps, putting them 266 runs ahead and that effectively means they were the only side in with a realistic chance of forcing an outright result.

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