Paliwal, Yashpal centuries revive Services

Rajat Paliwal (106*) and Yashpal Singh (102*) kept Himachal Pradesh's bowlers at bay for large parts of the day, as Services entertained thoughts of pocketing a first-innings lead in Dharamsala. Both batsmen hit centuries, with their fourth-wicket stand of 218 adding more miles into Himachal's weary legs as the afternoon progressed. Relief for the hosts came in the form of bad light that forced early stumps.

Services started well as the openers - Soumik Chatterjee and Anshul Gupta - hit half-centuries in a 116-run opening stand, before Himachal struck back to leave the visitors struggling at 126 for 3. But that was as good as it got for Himachal, as the Paliwal-Yashpal combine kept Services' flame burning. It was Yashpal's second successive century in his 101st first-class game. Paliwal's ton, meanwhile, extended his streak of successive centuries to three, after he hit twin hundreds against Saurashtra in the last match.

Kamlesh Makwana and Jaydev Unadkat put on 65 for the ninth wicket as Saurashtra squeezed out a first-innings lead in Rajkot. Left with no choice but to go for broke in order to force a result, Goa's batsmen gave a good account of themselves as they ended the day at 242 for 4, with the overall lead standing at 223.

Goa's batting effort in the second innings was led by Swapnil Asnodkar, who hit 11 fours in his 104. He briefly found support from Sagun Kamat, who made 37. Proving he was far from done yet, 31 year-old Kamlesh Makvana picked up three wickets to briefly cause a flutter before Dheeraj Jadhav (30*) and Snehal Kauthankar (24*) - who was briefly off the field after being hit on the forehead while fielding - closed the shutters without too much hassle.

Kaushal Singh, the 19-year old pacer, and Shahbaz Nadeem took four wickets apiece as Jharkhand enforced the follow-on against Jammu and Kashmir in Jamshedpur. Responding to Jharkhand's imposing 551 for 8 declared, achieved largely on the back of centuries from Ishan Kishan and Anand Singh, J&K slumped to 309, with the only semblance of resistance coming from Mithun Manhas (98) and Parvez Rasool (55). Manhas was dismissed in the nervous 90s for the second in the season to trigger a collapse.

Jaskaran Singh, the left-arm seamer, then struck to remove Waseem Raza and Adil Reshi in his first over to leave J&K reeling at 9 for 2 at stumps, still needing 233 to avoid an innings defeat. A win here, however, is unlikely to drastically improve Jharkhand's fortunes, considering Saurashtra and Himachal Pradesh have opened up a big gap at the top from a group in which only two teams progress through to the knockout.

The clash in Malappuram was reduced to a first-innings shootout with Kerala having the upper hand in their quest for three points. Tripura ended the day at 224 for 7, still needing 123 to take an unlikely lead. Swapan Das and Rana Dutta were at the crease when stumps were drawn.

That Tripura had only one half-centurion in Udiyan Bose (62) highlighted their woes. As many as six Tripura batsmen got into double figures, with the second highest score being Rakesh Solanki's 43. Sandeep Warrier, the right-arm pacer, did his credentials no harm with three scalps.