MP take stranglehold

Madhya Pradesh have taken a stranglehold on their Cooch Behar Trophy quarterfinal match against Saurashtra in Jamshedpur. At stumps on the second day on Thursday, MP which had already taken a lead of 132 runs on the first innings after skittling out Saurashtra for 54 runs, batted the whole of the day in scoring 249 for nine in their second knock. The highlight was a fine 108 by opener M Mishra who faced 212 balls and hit 18 fours. For Saurashtra, MP Dhruv took six for 76. With an overall lead of 381 runs, MP are virtually assured of a place in the semifinals