Jharkhand make it three in three

Jharkhand picked up their third straight win, easing past Assam by 117 runs at the Polytechnic Institute Ground in Agartala. Saurabh Tiwary made an unbeaten 75 off 80 balls and was assisted by useful contributions from the top and middle orders as Jharkhand made 263 for 9 in 43 overs despite a four-wicket haul from Sujay Tarafdar. Assam appeared to take up the challenge when opener Parvez Aziz and Amit Sinha were adding 88 for the second wicket. But when Sinha was out for 42, a collapse ensued, wiht nine wickets falling for just 63. Left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem bagged 4 for 37 to seal a comfortable win in the end.

Bengal beat Tripura by six wickets at the Maharaj Bir Bikram College Stadium in Agartala. The hosts' top eight all made starts but only one among them, opener Subhrajit Roy, managed a half-century. They had to eventually settle for 233 for 7, a score easily overhauled by the Bengal batsmen. Opener Anustup Majumdar made a quick 92, which included 13 fours, amid support from Arindam Das, Wriddhiman Saha and captain Manoj Tiwary. The target was reached in the 39th over, sealing Bengal's second win in the competition.

Shrikant Mundhe steered Maharashtra to a thrilling one-wicket win over Baroda at the Reliance Stadium in Vadodara. With 24 needed and just one wicket in hand, Mundhe took charge of Maharashtra's chase with No.11 Samad Fallah at the other end. In a game that was decided in the last over, Mundhe, who came in at No.9, finished with an unbeaten 36, an innings that included three fours and two sixes. The chase was set up by captain Rohit Motwani's 65 - he was involved in two productive stands at the top - and a recovery from the lower order after Maharashtra had lost wickets in a cluster, and were struggling at 198 for 7 at one stage. Half-centuries from Kedar Devdhar and Rakesh Solanki had helped Baroda post a competitive total, but Mundhe's effort meant they were in vain.

Gujarat trounced Saurashtra by 107 runs at the Moti Bagh Stadium in Vadodara. The three Patels, Parthiv, Niraj and Sunny, struck half-centuries to help their team reach 250 for 8. Saurashtra struggled in their reply and only three players put up any resistance - opener Chirag Pathak, captain Shitanshu Kotak and Kamlesh Makvana. The rest capitulated and with Ishwar Chaudhary and Jay Desai sharing six wickets, Saurashtra were bowled out for 143. It was Gujarat's second win in the competition.

Karnataka thrashed Hyderabad by eight wickets at the Fort Maidan in Palakkad. Seamers Abhimanyu Mithun and R Vinay Kumar shared six wickets to skittle Hyderabad for 120. Wicketkeeper Habib Ahmed top-scored with 31, and there was resistance down the order that enabled Hyderabad to go past the 100 mark after they were 37 for 6 at one stage. Karnataka had no trouble chasing, and opener Ganesh Satish made 61 to help seal victory with more than 16 overs to spare.

Tamil Nadu eased to a fourth straight win with an eight-wicket humbling of Kerala at the Perintalmanna Cricket Stadium in Mallapuram. Kerala had fought well via half-centuries from opener Abhishek Hegde and captain Raiphi Gomez to set a competitive target of 254. But the Tamil Nadu batsmen were ruthless in their reply. M Vijay smashed an unbeaten 115, striking eight fours and five sixes, while S Anirudha, opening with Vijay, stroked 85. The pair added 185 for the first wicket, shutting out Kerala, and helping their team win with 3.1 overs to spare.

Punjab beat Services by 63 runs in a rain-curtailed game at the Sector 16 Stadium in Chandigarh. In a match reduced to 26 overs, opener Karan Goel set the tone for the Punjab's innings with a quickfire 53. Mayank Sidhana made an attacking 40 and propelled Punjab to 192. Services faltered in their reply, managing just 126. Their top and middle order batsmen got starts but struggled to force the pace, leaving too much for the rest to get. Goel starred in an all-round effort, taking three wickets while the chief wrecker with the ball was Rahul Sharma, with a four-for. It was Punjab's third win in their fourth game.

Two North Zone and both Central Zone matches scheduled for the day were washed out.