Thirller in store after 34 wickets in two days in Cuttack

Odisha 127 (Imtiaz Ahmed 5-45) and 53 for 4 (Imtiaz ) need another 92 runs to beat Uttar Pradesh 160 (Deepak Behera 6-37) and 111
Scorecard

Nineteen wickets fell on the second day to go with 15 on the first, and we were left with Odisha needing 92 to win with six wickets in hand. The green pitch against the best Ranji side in such conditions was a gamble the hosts had to take in Cuttack when they entered the last round needing an outright win to say alive.

Odisha came into day two trailing Uttar Pradesh's first innings by 90 runs, but lost the remaining wickets for the addition of 57 runs. Their innings lasted just 42.5 overs. Imtiaz Ahmed took his second first-class five-for, and wicketkeeper Halhadar Das top-scored with 19.

Batting didn't get any easier for UP the second time around, and their innings went on for only 40.1 overs. Umang Sharma top-scored with 37, and apart from wicketkeeepr Eklavya Dwivedi's run-out all wickets fell to seamers.

Odisha came back to bat in the final session of the day, and Imtiaz took little time in sending their top three back. Then the spinner Ali Murtaza, who has contributed vital 24 and 25 with the bat, accounted for Biplab Samantray. Captain Natraj Behera shuffled the batting order to keep himself available on the third morning, but Odisha had a chase on their hands.

CM Gautam became the highest run-getter of the reason with an unbeaten and personal-best 264, which is the third-highest score for Karnataka, to give them a chance of winning outright and with that an outside chance of progressing.

Other records came for Gautam too: his 340-run partnership with captain Stuart Binny was a fifth-wicket record for Karnataka. The Binnys - father Roger Binny also scored a century as a captain - became the first father-son duo to score centuries as Karnataka captain. Gautam's was also the second-highest score by a wicketkeeper in Ranji Trophy.

When Karnataka finally declared at 572 for 9, they left Maharashtra an awkward spell of play to survive before stumps. Binny removed opener Prayag Bhati before time was called. Karnataka need to win this match, preferably with a bonus point, and hope that other results go their way.

On a flat pitch in Nagpur, Delhi put the runs on board, made a declaration and got one Vidarbha wicket before stumps. However, Delhi will want to win this to ensure progress. If they manage just the first-innings lead, they will have to rely on other results. Vidarbha, two points ahead of Delhi at the moment, will want to take at least one point from this match to give themselves a chance.

Delhi began the day at 274 for 5, but wickets just wouldn't fall in a cluster. The 21-year-old Vaibhav Rawal added 152 for the sixth wicket with Rajat Bhatia. Rawal brought up his second first-class century, and Bhatia managed 68. They declared with a possible eight overs left in the day, and Pradeep Sangwan gave them a breakthrough with the first ball he bowled.

After rain washed out the first day in Chennai, the second day began late, and gave Tamil Nadu 78 overs to bat. The hosts, who had R Prasanna captaining them with Dinesh Karthik still in the side, managed to reach 181 for 3 by stumps with Abhinav Mukund scoring 60.

These two teams are trying to stave off relegation, and are hoping Maharashtra don't take the lead against Karnataka.