Karnataka scrape lead after collapse

Karnataka 253 for 9 (Rahul 98, Gautam 54, Patel 5-55) lead Haryana 247 by six runs
Scorecard

Karnataka were coasting towards a first-innings lead in Lahli but there was room for afternoon drama following a batting collapse. Harshal Patel ran through the middle and lower order with a five-wicket haul, leaving Karnataka nine down and still needing two to overhaul the home side's 247. Karnataka eventually scraped through and ended the second day six ahead with a wicket in hand.

Karnataka got off to a strong start, with their openers Mayank Agarwal and KL Rahul adding 96. Ashish Hooda and Patel struck quickly, reducing Karnataka to 120 for 3. Rahul and captain CM Gautam then added 97 to put Karnataka on track towards taking an innings lead. The trouble started when Sachin Rana got rid of Gautam for 54. Karnataka's mainstay, Rahul, fell two short of a hundred when he was bowled by Patel. Karnataka had lost half their side for 224 and the score quickly became 234 for 7 after Patel, the right-arm seamer, trapped Ganesh Satish and Stuart Binny leg before. Patel bowled Abhimanyu Mithun with the visitors still 11 short of equaling the score and there was further drama when Ronit More fell with the score on 246. Abrar Kazi and the No.11 HS Sharath saw the side through the nervous moments.

Odisha 121 for 3 (Natraj Behera 53*) trail Delhi 442 (Bhatia 158*, Deepak Behera 3-107) by 321 runs
Scorecard

An unbeaten 158 by Rajat Bhatia helped Delhi to 442 before the seamers removed three Odisha top-order wickets on the second day in Sambalpur. Resuming on 268 for 6, Delhi lost the early wicket of Varun Sood, off Suryakant Pradhan. Odisha struggled to dislodge the lower order, with Sumit Narwal and Ashish Nehra scoring 40 each and adding 65 and 92 respectively with Bhatia. Bhatia went on to score is 13th first-class century and his knock included 18 fours and two sixes.

Narwal and Nehra struck early with the new ball by removing Bikas Pati and Niranjan Behera in the seventh over. Natraj Behera and Govind Podder gave the innings some stability with a stand of 53, before Parvinder Awana removed Podder for 34. Odisha were in a spot of bother at 70 for 3, but Natraj remained unbeaten 53 and had Biplab Samantray for company till stumps.

Vidarbha 332 for 7 (Jangid 104, Fazal 99, Sandeep 4-78) lead Punjab 184 by 148 runs
Scorecard

Faiz Fazal and Ravi Jangid took Vidarbha to a commanding position with a solid 203-run stand for the second wicket, giving them a lead of 148 runs at the end of the second day against Punjab in Mohali. Fazal, who already has two hundreds this season, fell short of another one by one run and Jangid scored 104, his second first-class hundred.

Fazal and Jangid started the day at 75 for 1 and took the total to 222 before the former was dismissed by Sandeep Sharma. Vidarbha's innings stuttered from there as they lost five more wickets within 19 runs as Sandeep and VRV Singh ran through the middle and lower order. Sandeep trapped Hemang Badani and Shrikant Wagh lbw for ducks on their first and second ball respectively, to finish with 4 for 78 on the second day.

At 241 for 7, and with a lead of 57, Vidarbha were steered to safety with a partnership of 91 between Urvesh Patel and No.9 Amol Jungade. While Patel scored a patient 32 off 99, Jungade scored a brisk 59 off 83 with 11 fours.