Services take steps towards quarters

In a match that belongs to the Yadavs, Services' Suraj Yadav took six wickets to counter Jharkhand's Ajay Yadav's five. Services, who lead the table but can still be ousted if this round doesn't go their way, bowled Jharkhand out for 120 to claim a considerable first-innings lead of 65.

Jharkhand were going all right at 87 for 3 - one of those wickets was that of Shahbaz Nadeem - but collapsed after that. Saurabh Tiwary retired-hurt when he hurt himslef running between the wickets, and Suraj took the important wickets of Ishank Jaggi and Rameez Nemat. Jharkhand couldn't fight the momentum, and Tiwary's comeback didn't make much difference either.

However, Jharkhand, who need an outright win to give themselves a chance of qualifying, kept themselves interested with two Services wickets before stumps, including that of captain Soumik Chatterjee.

Amol Muzumdar brought up his 28th Ranji century, now behind only former team-mate Wasim Jaffer and Ajay Sharma, to take Andhra to a solid 329 in Cuddapah. However, heavy rain cut short their attempt to take a first-innings lead. Kerala were 55 for 2 in reply.

This was Muzumdar's fifth century of this Ranji Trophy, also third in his last three matches, and took him to No. 3 on the run-getters list this season, behind wicketkeepers CM Gautam and Parthiv Patel. Crucially, it involved vital runs with the tail. Andhra began the day at 249 for 7, with Muzumdar on 99, but lost their eight on 253.

Muzumdar, though, eked out partnerships worth 34 and 42 with Shaik Basha and DP Vijaykumar. Vijaykumar carried the confidence into the bowling, too, and removed Abhishek Hegde and Robert Fernandez before the rain arrived.

Assam 134 for 1 (Pallavkumar Das 70) trail Goa 381 (Desai 105, Kamat 70, Pinto 61, Arup Das 5-83)
Scorecard

Assam, placed third in the table, made progress towards three points with the help of the Dases, Arup and Pallavkumar. Goa began the day at 264 for 3, but Arup Das' second five-wicket haul restricted them to 381. Overnight centurion Amogh Desai fell on 105, and the rest made only middling contributions.

In reply, Assam got off to a solid start.Their openers added 113, and the only blemish was that Pallavkumar Das couldn't convert his innings into a hundred.

A combination of rain, bad light and fog has allowed only 23 overs to be bowled in two days in Jammu. Tripura scored 60 runs for the loss of two wickets in that period. Neither of these teams has a realistic chance to make it to the quarters.