Badoni 99 revives Delhi; Saurashtra, Mumbai in box seat
![[File image] Badoni fell one short of a hundred but helped Delhi recover](/a/img/v1/595x396/i1/c607186/file-image-badoni-fell-one-s.jpg "[File image] Badoni fell one short of a hundred but helped Delhi recover")
It was one-way traffic as Mumbai made rapid strides towards a resounding win over Meghalaya. Centuries from Siddhesh Lad (145), Akash Anand (103) and Shams Mulani (100*) alongside notable contributions from Ajinkya Rahane (96) and Shardul Thakur (84) meant that the reigning champions posted a huge total of 671/7 before declaring. A gargantuan first innings lead of 585 to boot, Mumbai then struck twice with the new ball in the brief phase to stumps as Meghalaya ended the day at 27/2.
Jalaj Saxena registered five-wicket hauls in both innings as Bihar were bowled out twice on the second day to give Kerala a massive innings victory. The hosts, 302/9 overnight, added 49 more with centurion Salman Nizar getting to 150 and doing the heavy lifting. After that, it took just under 65 overs for Kerala's bowlers to pick up the 20 wickets with Saxena nabbing five in each innings. Only six double-digit scores were recorded across the two innings for Bihar as they struggled to compete against Kerala's disciplined bowling display.
The run fest continued in Indore as Madhya Pradesh piled on a massive total of 670/7 declared. Overnight centurions Harsh Gawli and Shubham Sharma both converted their tons into double tons, extending their partnership to 339 for the second wicket. After the stand was broken, the hosts continued to pile on the runs before declaring towards the fag end of the day. Uttar Pradesh, however, started solidly as well on what has been a fine batting deck. The visitors raced to 95/0 in just 15 overs by the close of play with Abhishek Goswami's 55-ball 66* driving the score forward.
Ayush Badoni (99) missed out on a century by the narrowest of margins but his 133-run stand with Sumit Mathur (78*) rescued Delhi after they were 97/4 at one point. The much-awaited Ranji return for Virat Kohli was an anti-climax with the star batter falling for just 6 as Delhi lost three wickets for 19 runs in the morning session. Badoni and Mathur revived the innings thereafter, with the latter carrying on further through some partnerships with the lower order. Delhi ended the day at 334/7 with the first innings lead already at a very handy figure of 93.
Bengal extended their position of dominance in their fixture against Punjab at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal (111) produced a masterly ton while Abishek Porel (52) chipped in with a quick fifty as Bengal finished with a first-innings lead of 152. The last five wickets added 198 to strengthen the hosts' position in the game. Their seamers then added to Punjab's woes as the tourists were reduced to 64/3 by the close of play, still trailing by 88 runs.
Saurashtra's spinners put them in the box seat against Assam in Rajkot with Dharmendrasinh Jadeja (4-61) being the pick of the bowlers. The tourists were bowled out for just 164 in their first innings, thereby allowing Saurashtra to enforce the follow-on. Assam fared relatively better in the second innings as they were 67/1 by stumps, still needing 243 to make Saurashtra bat again. Earlier on in the day. Cheteshwar Pujara (99) was unfortunate to miss out on a ton as Saurashtra folded for 474 after being 365/3 at one stage. The wicket did slow down and it meant that the hosts' spinners were able to weave their web on the opposition.
Sai Kishore (5-43) and Ajith Ram (4-30) continued their antics from the first innings to give Tamil Nadu a realistic chance of an outright win against Jharkhand. The duo's spells helped the visitors to bowl their opponents out for 154, which meant a target of 234 for Tamil Nadu to win. It is still a tough chase on what has been a tricky pitch and TN ended the day on a dicey 137/5 with Vijay Shankar (33*) holding fort at one end.
Bowlers continued to call the shots in Vizianagaram with Rajasthan ending the second day with a slender advantage. Manav Suthar (4-65), Khaleel Ahmed (3-25) and Aniketh Choudhary (2-53) combined to give Rajasthan a handy first-innings lead of 38 after their batters had posted a modest total of 258 in the first innings. However, Rajasthan's batters in the second essay also found the going tough on a wearing pitch as they ended the day at 95/7 with an overall lead of 133. Prithvi Raj Yarra (4-34) led Andhra's fightback as the game continues to be on a knife's edge.
Skipper Ankit Kumar (118) produced a century to keep Haryana in the hunt against Karnataka in Bengaluru. The visitors ended the day at 232/5, 72 adrift of Karnataka's total of 304. The other Haryana batters got starts but nobody got to 50 as Kumar carried the innings from one end. Timely dismissals meant that Karnataka didn't let their opponents off the hook. The hosts, however, would ue their collapse in the morning as their last four wickets added just 18 runs on a decent batting deck.
A week after upsetting Ranji Champions Mumbai, Jammu and Kashmir seem to be on the way to recording another big win. J&K ended the second day of their fixture against Baroda at 125/2 with an overall lead of 205. Shubham Khajuria (67*) led the visitors' second innings display on a day where their bowlers put on a valiant effort to restrict Baroda to just 166. Sahil Lotra (4-26) was exceptional as 11 of his 25.1 overs were maidens and he got great support from Abid Mushtaq (3-56) and Khajuria (3-47) to give the visitors a big first-innings lead of 80.
Sanjeet Desai (123*) and Aayush Pandey (99) led the way for Chhatisgarh as they ended the second day at 310/3 with a first-innings lead of 27. Shashank Chandrakar (56*) also chipped in as the home side made a stable reply with the pitch easing out. Desai and Pandey put on 109 for the third wicket to set the platform for Chhatisgarh while the former then combined for an unbroken stand of 110 with Chandrakar to get the team into the lead.
Siddhesh Veer (93*) and Yash Kshirsagar (71) led Maharashtra's reply as the home side were strongly placed at 235/3 after the second day, just 35 adrift of Tripura's total of 270. The pair added 144 for the third wicket to give Maharashtra a steady base after they had been dented early against the new ball. It were the hosts' bowlers who set the tone for them with Rajneesh Gurbani (4-37) and Hitesh Walunj (4-67) combining to ensure that Tripura fell from 241/5 to 270 all out.
Tanmay Agarwal (136) unfurled a classy century as Hyderabad ended the second day in a strong position against Vidarbha. The opener's hundred was the only fifty-plus score in the innings but Hyderabad had plenty of batters getting starts which helped them to get a first-innings lead of 136. Most of them combined for useful partnerships with Agarwal who was the seventh wicket to fall. Vidarbha have also begun steadily in their second essay as they closed the day at 56/1, still needing 80 more to make Hyderabad bat again.
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