Karnataka extend lead courtesy Nair, Binny rescue act
Saurabh Kumar took seven wickets for Uttar Pradesh, but their batsman crumbled to Maharashtra's Chirag Khurana's offspin in Lucknow
ESPNcricinfo staff
25-Oct-2017
Karun Nair showcased all of his shots, including an upper cut • Associated Press
Karnataka's Shreyas Gopal took five lower-order wickets to dismiss Hyderabad for 136 on the second day of their Group A clash in Shimoga. Hyderabad returned strongly once again, taking four top-order wickets, all bowled by left-arm spinner Mehdi Hasan, as Karnataka finished the day on 127 for 4, with a lead by 174, courtesy an unbeaten 70-run partnership between Karun Nair (37*) and Stuart Binny (26*).
Hyderabad started the day on 51 for 3, trailing by 132, but after Bhavanaka Sandeep (19) and Ashish Reddy were dismissed in the morning, Gopal's legspin ran through the rest of their batting, taking career-best first-class figures of 5 for 17 in the space of 25 runs. Hyderabad wicketkeeper K Sumanth was the only one to display any resistance with the bat, scoring a 150-ball 68.
KL Rahul (23) failed for the second time in the match, the first Karnataka batsman out in their second innings.
In Lucknow, Saurabh Kumar added three more wickets to finish with career-best figures of 7 for 110. That helped Uttar Pradesh bowl Maharashtra out for 312 from an overnight total of 274 for 4. Ankit Bawne, who started on 107, was out for 119 as Maharashtra lost their last six wickets for 38 runs.
In reply, Uttar Pradesh crumbled from a position of strength to finish the day on 232 for 7, still trailing by 80 runs. Their captain Suresh Raina fell for a two-ball duck.
UP started their innings well, with the second-wicket partnership between Almas Shaukat (63) and Shivam Chaudhary (50) producing 101 runs. But Maharashtra offspinner Chirag Khurana - who finished the day with four wickets - pulled the advantage back towards his team. UP stumbled from 131 for 2 to 152 for 6. Saurabh then scored 27 with the bat, assisting Eklavya Dwivedi (40*) to reduce the deficit before stumps.
A 144-run opening stand between Saurabh Wakaskar (80) and Shivakant Shukla (86) gave Railways the upper hand against Assam in Guwahati. Railways ended the day on 224 for 2, only twenty runs behind Assam's first-innings total of 244.
Wakaskar and Shukla batted for almost 44 overs, smashing 21 fours and two sixes between them. Shukla was the second wicket to fall, with the team at 179, which was followed by an unbeaten 45-run partnership between Nitin Bhille (18*) and Arindam Ghosh (30*). Assam started from an overnight score of 216 for 8, but could add only 26 more runs to their total. Railways' Deepak Bansal finished with figures of 4 for 61 after Assam's innings.