Khurasia 80 leaves match evenly poised
A summary of the latest action from the second day of the Ranji Trophy Plate Group semi-finals
Cricinfo staff
27-Jan-2006
Madhya Pradesh ended the second day of their Ranji Plate semi-final on even terms, closing on 191 for 5 in reply to Saurashtra's 296. Shitanshu Kotak, overnight on 95, brought up his ninth first-class century before Amay Khurasia's power-packed 80 charged Madhya Pradesh left the match hanging in the balance.
Khurasia, who played only two games this season, chose the right moment to come good. After the openers put up a 55-run stand off 16.3 overs Khurasia took charge and the next fifty rolled off in just eight overs before Sandip Maniar removed Sachin Dholpure and knocked off Devendra Bundela, the leading run-getter for MP, for a duck to push them to 106 for 3.
Abbas Ali joined Khurasia and the duo steered MP to 182 for 3 before Saurashtra fought back with two wickets. Earlier, Saurashtra resumed on 226 for 6, were propped up by Kotak's first hundred of the season and 21 from Sandeep Jobanputra, the No 10 batsman.