Satyajit directs Baroda recovery at Mumbai

Baroda opening batsman Satyajit Parab slammed 121 to help his team reach 219-4 in their second innings on the penultimate day of their Ranji Trophy Elite Group A match against defending champions Mumbai.

The visitors, who had conceded 111-run first innings lead, were just 108 runs ahead with six second innings wickets intact and the whole day to go tomorrow.

Earlier, Mumbai resuming at their overnight score of 278-6 were dismissed for 324. Vinod Kambli (114) and skipper Nilesh Kulkarni (20) were the main run-getters today. Medium pacer Shekhar Joshi (4-81) was the most successful Baroda bowler and he was supported well by Patel (3-103) and Pathan (3-40).

Baroda opening batsmen Parab and skipper Connor Williams (50) gave their team a flying start with a 107-run stand before the visitors lost two quick wickets — Williams and Himanshu Jadav (7).

Uttar Pradesh face follow-on

Kanpur: Responding to Delhi’s huge first innings total of 478, Uttar Pradesh were struggling to avoid the follow-on, ending the third day on 206-7 in their Elite Group A match at the Green Park Stadium here. Resuming on their overnight score of 19 for no loss, the hosts lost wickets at regular intervals as the Delhi bowlers came up with a collective effort to rock UP, who need 123 runs more to avoid the follow-on. Their hopes now rest on former skipper Gyanendra Pandey who was batting on 60. Rizwan Shamshad and Gyanendra Pandey added 74 for the fifth wicket. Off-spinner Sarandeep Singh ended the day with two wickets while Amit Bhandari, Sanjay Gill, Rahul Sanghvi, Rajat Bhatia and Gautam Gambhir claimed one wicket each.

Ram Kumar shines again

Bangalore: Left-arm spinner R Ram Kumar came up with another superb bowling performance, grabbing 6-62, as Tamil Nadu dismissed Karnataka for 235 in their second innings in a Elite Group B match. Chasing a victory target of 260, Tamil Nadu were 81-2 at stumps. Ram Kumar, who bagged a hat-trick in the first innings during his four-wicket haul, was well supported by L Balaji, who picked up 3-97.

Daunting task before Gujarat

Ahmedabad: Hyderabad looked set for victory after Gujarat, chasing a target of 302, were 75-3 on the penultimate day of their Elite B Group match. Earlier, Hyderabad were skittled out for 185. Manohar contributed 45 while Arjun Yadav made 44 in Hyderabad’s second innings which was wrecked by pacer S Trivedi, who claimed 4-45. Spinner Timil Patel grabbed three wickets in his 10-over spell.

Bangar puts Rlys on top

New Delhi: Railways were in the driver’s seat after gaining a first innings lead of 179 runs over Andhra in their Elite Group ‘A’ match at the Karnail Singh Stadium here. Riding on the back of a solid century by Test batsman Sanjay Bangar and a quick-fire unbeaten half-century by Siddharth Verma,

Sound reply by Kerala

Palakkad: Kerala made 213-4 in reply to Punjab’s first innings score of 541-7 declared at close of the penultimate day of their Elite Group A league match.

Kerala made a shaky start to their first innings and lost two wickets before lunch for the addition of just 57 runs. However, a 89-run fourth wicket partnership between Hemant Kumar (61) and skipper Sunil Oasis (batting 50) took the team to a modest score of 213. Punjab’s Vineet Sharma and Rajesh Sharma claimed two wickets each.

Bengal face uphill task

Jaipur: Rohit Jhalani hit a solid 85 as Rajasthan set a daunting target before Bengal on the penultimate day of their Elite B Ranji Trophy match here. Rajasthan declared their second innings at 268-5 with Vineet Saxena (59) and Anshu Jain (53) notching up half centuries.