Abhinav hundred leads Tamil Nadu's strong reply

An unbeaten century by Abhinav Mukund led Tamil Nadu's strong response to Haryana's first-innings score of 348 at Chepauk. The hosts reached 169 for 1 by stumps with Abhinav getting 110 of those runs. Haryana had started the day well by adding 84 runs to their overnight score of 264 for 7. Amit Mishra scored 71 not out to help his team reach a strong total while Tamil Nadu were profligate, giving away 34 extras. Tamil Nadu started with an 84-run opening partnership between Abhinav and M Vijay, who was dismissed by Mishra for 33. Kaushik Gandhi, on first-class debut, shared an unbeaten 85-run stand with Abhinav but only got 12 of those runs. Abhinav, who has lost his place in the India Test squad to Ajinkya Rahane, will want to kick on and make a big score as a reminder to the selectors that he is still around.

A century from Ambati Rayudu helped Baroda take a 312-run first-innings lead against Madhya Pradesh at the Moti Bagh Stadium in Vadodara but MP had begun a recovery by the end of the day, reaching 176 for 2. Baroda started the day on 207 for 4 and really made MP pay for their 63 all out on the first day. Rayudu, who was on 80 not out overnight, went on to get 119 and put together 74 for the fifth wicket with wicketkeeper Pinal Shah, who went on to score 54. The rest of the lower order chipped in to help Baroda reach 375. The runs came quickly as well, at 3.98 an over. Jalaj Saxena was MP's most-successful bowler, taking 5 for 61.

MP made a steady start to their reply, with Mohnish Mishra scoring 58 off 60 balls including 10 fours and two sixes, and Naman Ojha ending the day unbeaten on 63. They still have to get another 136 to wipe out the first-innings deficit though.

Niraj Patel converted his century into a double-hundred to take Gujarat to an imposing 520 against Delhi at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Stadium in Valsad. Gujarat then made inroads and Delhi were 119 for 3 by the end of the day. Gujarat started the day on 358 for 6 and Patel and Salil Yadav continued their partnership, taking it to 174 runs. Patel reached his maiden double-century and Yadav reached 71, his first half-century in any professional cricket. Delhi's bowlers had to toil but 18-year-old left-arm spinner Vikas Mishra took three of the four wickets to fall on the day to finish with his best first-class figures: 7 for 116.

Shikhar Dhawan was dismissed early in Delhi's response but his opening partner, the 18-year-old Unmukt Chand, made his way to 72 not out. Debutant seamer Faisal Dudhat struck twice and Delhi will need big partnerships to avoid a first-innings deficit.

Karnataka seized control of their match against Railways at the Karnail Singh Stadium in Delhi by bowling Railways out for 134 on the second day, and then reducing them to 33 for 2 following on. Left-arm spinner KP Appanna took five wickets and fast bowler Abhimanyu Mithun picked up three to give Karnataka a 213-run first-innings lead. Karnataka had managed to add 63 runs to their overnight score of 284 for 7. Captain Vinay Kumar brought in spin early and Appanna struck as early as the sixth over. Railways' top order collapsed and they were 64 for 5 before Sanjay Bangar and Marripuri Suresh added 40 runs. Once that pair was removed, the tail did not hang around long and Railways were all out in 53.5 overs. Vinay Kumar enforced the follow on and Mithun and Appanna struck once each.

Punjab needed wicketkeeper Gitansh Khera to score 47 not out at No. 9 to scrape out a first-innings lead against Orissa in Mohali. Punjab were 220 for 8 in response to Orissa's 251, and the ninth-wicket pair of Khera and Sandeep Sharma put together 35 to get the crucial lead. Harbhajan Singh decided to declare when the ninth wicket fell, even though Punjab were only four ahead, to give Orissa an awkward over to face at the end of the day. Bikas Pati played out the maiden.

Orissa only managed to add five more runs to their overnight score of 246 for 9 at the start of the day with Sandeep Sharma completing his maiden five-wicket haul in first-class cricket in only his second match. Punjab then wobbled early in their chase and were reduced to 26 for 3. Basant Mohanty took two of the early wickets and finished with figures of 3 for 76. Uday Kaul steadied the innings with his 62 but seamer Lagnajit Samal made regular inroads and the battle for the innings lead remained in the balance before Khera got Punjab over the line.

Saurashtra got themselves back into their match at the Cantonment Board Ground in Meerut, taking the last six wickets in Uttar Pradesh's first innings for 96 runs and then reaching 208 for 4 in response to 362. UP started the day on 266 for 4 with Tanmay Srivastava batting on 134 not out. Seamer Sandip Maniar struck with the second ball of the day, giving him his fourth wicket of the innings. Srivastava went on to get 175 not out but offspinner Kamlesh Makvana took wickets regularly at the other end to finish with 4 for 30 as UP were bowled out 26 overs into the second day.

Saurashtra ran into trouble in their innings, slumping to 55 for 3, and then losing Ravindra Jadeja, who scored a triple-century in their last match, with the score 112. Captain Jaydev Shah led the recovery with a 109-ball 79. He shared an unbeaten 96-run stand with Shitanshu Kotak, who got to 32 not out.

Mumbai's script for this match was bat first, bat once, pile a massive total and dominate the opposition to try and register an outright victory. Except, in a role reversal, defending champions Rajasthan did exactly what heavyweights Mumbai had in mind. If Hrishikesh Kanitkar, the Rajasthan captain, had laid the platform with a serene century on the first day, young Robin Bist played an equally stoic innings, to remain unbeaten on 82 and help the visitors to 530.

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