A round-up of the second day's play of the Ranji Trophy Super League matches on Saturday.
Mumbai in control as Orissa batsmen falter
Orissa's batting line up crumbled yet again as Mumbai took full control at close on the second day of their Group A match at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack.
Orissa, who had lost three wickets for three runs at the end of play on Friday, could not stand up against the Mumbai bowling attack and were a dismal 26 for eight at one stage.
The home team managed to put up a paltry 108 runs on the board in the first innings which was made possible by a valiant ninth wicket stand between wicketkeeper Haladhar Das and Basanta Mohanty.
Das made an unbeaten 62 which came off 88 balls and contained two sixes and eight boundaries while Mohanty's contribution was 27 (five fours).
What made matters worse for Orissa was the inability of captain and batting mainstay Shiv Sundar Das to bat as he had suffered an injury while fielding on Friday.
Mumbai, who were dismissed for 180 in their first innings, thus gained a 72-run first innings lead.
At close of play, Mumbai were 133 for one with Ajinkya Rahane not out on 75 and opener Sahil Kukreja batting on 53 and held all the aces with an overall lead of 205 with nine wickets intact.
Brief Scores: Mumbai 180 and 133 for one (Ajinkya Rahane 75 not out, Sahil Kukreja 53) vs Orissa (Haladhar Das 62 not out, Dhawal Kulkarni five for 27).
Top-order fires as Delhi tighten noose around Saurashtra
Opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan's unbeaten 83 and useful contributions from skipper Akash Chopra and Virat Kohli helped Delhi to tighten noose around Saurashtra in Rajkot.
After bowling out the hosts for 241, Delhi top order batsmen showed great application with the top three cracking brilliant half centuries to put the visitors in a comfortable position.
Delhi is now just 26 runs away to take the all important first innings lead and also build a platform for a huge total to keep their hopes alive for the knock out stage of the tournament.
Resuming the day at 234 for nine, Saurashtra added just seven runs to their overnight score with Delhi bowlers taking just 3.2 overs to take last wicket.
Skipper Chopra and Dhawan started the visitors innings on a cautious note. The right-left duo added 96 runs for the opening wicket before Delhi skipper Chopra was caught by Sitanshu Kotak off left-arm leg spinner Rakesh Dhruve.
Chopra made 58 off 32 balls in his 190-minute stay at the crease.
However, Chopra's downfall did not give any respite to the Saurashtra bowlers as next man in Virat Kohli gave able support to Dhawan.
Dhawan-Kohli combination batted watchfully to stitch 112-run stand for the second wicket.
Kohli, however, got life thrice as he was put down on his individual scores of 36, 38 and 67. He innings finally came to an end through a direct hit at the non-striking end stumps from Cheteshwar Pujara.
Kohli 69 came off 124 balls and was studded with seven boundaries and a six, while Dhawan ended the day unbeaten on 83.
The Delhi left-hander faced 235 balls and struck six fours en route to his unbeaten marathon innings. Giving him company at the middle was Mithun Manhas (3).
Brief scores: Saurashtra 241 vs Delhi 215 for two (Aakash Chopra 58, Shikar Dhawan 83 not out, Virat Kohli 69)
Shrikhande helps Maharashtra take lead over Railways
Hosts Maharashtra grabbed a slender 32-run lead over Railways in their Group B tie at the Chattrapati Shivaji Stadium in Ratnagiri.
Replying to the visitors' modest first innings tally of 212, Maharashtra were in a spot of bother at 158 for six before one-down batsman Ameya Shrikhande, who top-scored with 113, and Digambar Waghmare (22) put on a crucial half century stand to take them past Railways' total.
The home team, starting the day at 13 for no loss, were dismissed for 244 in 69.4 overs before Railways finished the second day of the four-day match at 48 without loss with openers Sanjay Bangar (23) and Vairamudi Cheluvaraj (25) at the crease.
Maharashtra, struggling at 44 for two, rode on Shrikhande's century and his 70-run stand with an attacking Kedar Jadhav, who made 41 in 61 balls with 10 fours.
The 22-year-old Shrikhande, who made his Ranji debut against Karnataka at this ground last year, struck 14 fours and a six in his 274-minute innings to steady the innings after the loss of openers Harshad Khadiwale and Rohan Bhosale with only 44 on the board.
A slump saw the home team lose four wickets in a clutch in just over 21 overs before the innings was revived for the second time by the seventh wicket stand of 58 between the century maker and Waghmare.
For Railways, right arm medium pacer Sanjib Sanyal was the most successful bowler with four for 26 while Harvinder Singh, who sent back Shrikhande to finish with 3 for 48, and Bangar (2 for 62) did their bit.
Brief scores: Railways 212 and 48 for no loss vs Maharashtra 244 (Ameya Shrikhande 113, Sanjib Sanyal four for 26).
Hyderabad post 335 in first innings
Young Ahmed Quadri's impressive knock of 80 runs helped hosts Hyderabad post a decent 335 against Punjab at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket stadium.
Resuming at his overnight score of 18, Quadri, who made his Ranji debut this season, went on to make 80 runs that included nine boundaries and one sixer. He faced 127 balls.
However, the tail-enders of Hyderabad -- SM Shoiab, Ashwin Yadav -- were dismissed cheaply for 15 and one respectively, while Shiv Shankar was not out on seven.
The hosts made 246 for seven on the first day of the match on Friday, thanks to a scintillating knock of 131 by opener T Suman.
For Punjab, Sarabjit Singh, Manpreet Gony and Amanpreet Singh took four, three and two wickets respectively.
Beginning their first innings, the visitors made 150 for loss of six wickets as the top order batsmen failed to make it big, thanks to a impressive bowling spells by Hyderabad bowlers.
Opener Karan Goel was the highest scorer with 44, while the other opener Sunny Sohal (24), Ravi Inder Singh (22), P Dharmani (1), Ankur Kakkar (27), Varun Khanna (0) returned to the pavilion quickly.
Uday Kaul (26) and Mayank Siddana (1) were at the crease when the stumps were drawn for the day.
Hyderabad bowlers Shiv Shankar and Ashwin Yadav took two wickets each, while MP Arjun and Ahmed Quadri claimed one wicket each.
Brief scores: Hyderabad 335 (T Suman 131, Ahmed Quadri 80) vs Punjab 150 for six (Karan Goel 44).
Karthik puts TN in command
Indian discard Dinesh Karthik struck an unbeaten century to guide Tamil Nadu to a commanding position over Baroda on day two of their Group B match at the Motibag Ground in Vadodara.
Tamil Nadu, who made a paltry 117 in their first innings on the opening day, have wiped out their 49-run deficit and are 252 runs ahead with seven second innings wickets intact.
At the close of play, Tamil Nadu were 301 runs for three in their second innings with captain Karthik batting on 111 and S Vidyut giving him company on 17.
Karthik and R Prasanna (92) added 200 runs for the third wicket after openers Arun Karthik (43) and A Mukund (12) were out and Tamil Nadu reduced to 66 for two.
The duo took advantage of a toothless Baroda bowling attack as Munaf Patel is with the Indian squad in Chennai while Irfan Pathan is out due to injury.
Earlier resuming at overnight score of 124 for 5, Baroda were all out for 166 runs. P Amaranth was the most successful Tamil Nadu bowler claiming five wickets for 60 runs.
Brief scores: Tamil Nadu 117 and 301 for 3 (Dinesh Karthik 111 not out, R Prasanna 920 vs Baroda 166 (Yusuf Pathan 35, Connor Williams 31, P Amaranth 5 for 60).
Akhil hits ton to guide Karnataka to mammoth 511 against UP
B Akhil struck a brilliant century as Karnataka amassed 511 in their first innings against Uttar Pradesh in a Group 'B' match at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore.
The visitors struggled with the ball with Akhil (135) putting on 135 runs for the seventh wicket with Sunil Joshi (64).
Piyush Chawla (3 for 141) was pick of Uttar Pradesh bowlers, while Suresh Raina, Praveen Kumar and R P Singh scalped two wickets each.
At stumps on second day, Uttar Pradesh were 44 for the loss of one wicket.
Brief scores: Karnataka 511 (Akhil 135, Robin Uthappa 65, C Raghu 64, Sunil Joshi 64, Piyush Chawla 3 for 141) vs Uttar Pradesh 44 for one.
Rajasthan staring at defeat against Gujarat
Despite a fighting unbeaten 79 by debutant Vinod Chanwaria, Rajasthan were staring at yet another humiliating defeat at the close of second day against Gujarat in Jaipur.
The visitors tightened the screw by scoring 227 in their first innings to take a 91-run lead and then marched towards an outright victory by reducing Rajasthan to 148 for 7 in the home team's second innings at close of play on day two.
Rajasthan are ahead by just 57 runs and only three second innings wickets in hand.
Chanwaria was still holding the fight for Rajasthan with a well-made unbeaten 79. At the other hand Pankaj Singh (2) was giving him company.
For Gujarat, Amit Singh (4 for 21) and Sidartha Trivedi (2 for 36) again proved too hot to handle by the hosts batsmen.
Brief scores: Rajasthan 136 and 148 for seven (Vinod Chanwaria 79 not out, Amit Singh four for 21) vs Gujarat 227 (Neeraj Patel 51, Bhavik Thaker 52).
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