Sahu leads Railways rally with 122

Santosh Sahu hit 122 at No 8 to be the architect of a Railways rally on the second day of their Ranji Trophy quarterfinal against Karnataka at the Karnail Singh stadium in New Delhi on Friday.

Railways resumed at 237 for six but thanks chiefly to Sahu's effort, they reached a total of 451. At stumps, Karnataka were 36 for no loss in reply.

This was the first century for the 24-year-old from Madhya Pradesh playing for Railways and the second overall - the first was also scored against Karnataka.

For Karnataka, last year's semifinalists, it was a tough day. First SN Khanolkar and Sahu, the overnight batsmen figured in a 93-run seventh wicket partnership. Khanolkar was out for 64. He faced 170 balls and hit seven fours. This was followed by an eighth wicket stand of 117 runs off 35.4 overs between Sahu and Kulamani Parida (48). In a stay of 2-1/2 hours, Parida faced 102 balls and hit six fours and a six. Sahu was last out after batting 350 minutes. He faced 260 balls and hit 16 fours.

Karnataka openers Arun Kumar (19) and Mithun Beerala (13) batted carefully for 17 overs to come in unbeaten at stumps. But there is still a lot of work ahead for the Karnataka batsmen.