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Saxena helps Bombay take firm grip

A career-best five-wicket haul by speedster Santosh Saxena (5 for 53) helped Bombay gain a firm grip in their Ranji Trophy Super League match at the Wankhede Stadium, Bombay, despite a fighting knock by visiting skipper Gagan Khoda (83).

At draw of stumps on day two of the four-day match, the visitors were 224 for 9, recovering from a very shaky 75 for 5 -- 112 runs still adrift of Bombay's first innings aggregate of 336.

Khoda played a captain's knock, striking ten fours and a six in his three-hour srtay at the crease knock to help the visitors avoid the follow-on. He found an able ally in ex-international Sanjeev Sharma (33), adding 74 runs for the sixth wicket. Khoda, however, was lucky, dropped by Amol Muzumdar at slips in the second over of the innings, the bowler to suffer being Abey Kuruvilla.

Earlier, the Rajasthan medium-pacers did well to polish off the Bombay lower order for the addition of just 56 runs to the overnight 280 for 5.

Leftarm mediumpacer P. Krishnakumar picked up 4 for 64 while leftarm spinner Devender Pal Singh got 3 for 38. Rajasthan wicket-keeper Rohit Jhalani accounted for six victims.

Scoreboard
Bombay (1st innings; overnight 280 for 5): Samir Dighe st Jhalani b D P Singh 32, A Pagnis c Jhalani b Sanjeev Sharma 47, J Paranjpe c Jhalani b Krishnakumar 3, A Muzumdar run out 63, V Kambli c Bhatia b D P Singh 59, S Manjrekar b Krishnakumar 38, Ramesh Powar c Jhalani b Krishnakumar 9, Rajesh Pawar c Jhalani b Shamsher Singh 0, S Kannan c Khoda b Krishnakumar 20, A Kuruvilla st Jhalani b D P Singh 12, S Saxena not out 0.

Extras (b 8, lb 5, nb 31, w 9) 53; Total (all out in 505 mins, 110.1 overs) 336

Fall of wickets: 1-101, 2-106, 3-127, 4-229, 5-280, 6-291, 7-297, 8-301, 9-330.

Bowling: Shamsher Singh 22-6-63-1; Krishnakumar 24-5-69-4; Sanjeev Sharma 21-2-81-1; Devender Pal Singh 19.1-2-38-3; Kanwat 15-1-58-0; Jaikumar Sharma 3-1-7-0; Jain 6-3-7-0.

Rajasthan (1st innings): A Jain c Dighe b Saxena 1, G Khoda c Kambli b Kuruvilla 83, R Kanwat c Dighe b Saxena 16, N Doru c Dighe b Kuruvilla 0, S Bhatia b Kuruvilla 2, P Krishnakumar run out 0, Sanjeev Sharma lbw Saxena 33, R Jhalani c Paranjpe b Saxena 32, D P Singh c Kannan b Saxena 3, Jaikumar Sharma batting 21, Shamsher Singh batting 5.

Extras (lb 4, nb 24) 28. Total (for 9 wkts, in 68 overs) 224

Fall of wickets: 1-2, 2-57, 3-58, 4-68, 5-75, 6-149, 7-160, 8-165, 9-198.

Bowling: Saxena 19-3-53-5; Kuruvilla 22-1-75-3; Rajesh Pawar 13-5-40-0; Kannan 12-2-42-0; Ramesh Powar 2-0-10-0.

CALCUTTA: Hosts Bengal failed to drive home the advantage of the opening day, losing their last five wickets for the addition of just 35 runs to the overnight 281 for 5, 75 minutes into the second day of their Ranji Trophy Super League match against holders Karnataka at the Eden Gardens on Sunday.

At stumps, Karnataka were 119 for three, with Barrington Roland and A Vijay batting on 43 and 21 respectively.

Bengal were expected to consolidate from their overnight position but Karnataka mediumpacers Venkatesh Prasad and Dodda Ganesh wrapped up the innings, with Syed Saba Karim returning unbeaten on 129.

Scoreboard
Bengal (1st innings; overnight 281 for 5): Nikhil Haldipur c Naidu b Ganesh 19, A Lahiri b Joshi 29, D Gandhi c Naidu b Prasad 5, R Gavaskar c Arun Kumar b Prasad 44, S Karim not out 129, C Singh c Arun Kumar b S Vadiyaraj 36, U Chatterjee c Arun Kumar b Ganesh 25, LR Shukla lbw Ganesh 0, V Yadav lbw Prasad 1, S Lahiri lbw Joshi 2, A Masood c Naidu b Prasad 0.

Extras (b-5, lb-11, nb-10) 26. Total (all out, 109.2 overs) 316.

Fall of wickets: 1-30, 2-38, 3-109, 4-109, 5-224, 6-292, 7-292, 8-300, 9-311.

Bowling: Prasad 26.2-7-62-4; Ganesh 27-9-62-3; Akhil 11-3-37-0; Joshi 30-5-73-2; Vadiyaraj 12-2-51-1; Vijay 3-0-15-0.

Karnataka (1st innings): J Arun Kumar lbw Shukla 0, M Beerala c Charanjit Singh b Chatterjee 35, B Roland batting 43, Tilak Naidu c S Karim b Chatterjee 9, A Vijay batting 21.

Extras (lb-3, nb-8) 11. Total (for three wkts in 71 overs) 119

Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-59, 3-80.

Bowling: Shukla 16-3-31-1, Masood 9-5-20-0, Chatterjee 31-11-44-2, Yadav 9-1-9-0, Lahiri 6-1-12-0.

CHANDIGARH: Skipper Vikram Rathore's magnificent innings of 137 not out helped Punjab pile up 269 for four on the second day in reply to Bihar's 244 in the Ranji Trophy Super League at PCA Stadium, Mohali.

Bihar, who resumed at 197 for six, were bowled out by the Punjab attack led by Harbhajan Singh and Gagandeep Singh.

Punjab opening batsmen Rathore and Ravneet Ricky (50) put on a 107-run partnership in 122 minutes and 25.5 overs.

Rathore scored his 17th century and maintained pace throughout the day to help Punjab take a 25-run lead with six wickets still in hand. His 50 runs came off 75 balls.

Scoreboard:
Bihar (1st innings): N Ranjan lbw Gagandeep Singh 39, J Khan c Rickey b Harbhajan Singh 60, A Hashmi c and b Harbhajan 22, Rajiv Kumar c Jugnu b Gagandeep 55, Sunil Kumar lbw Harbhajan 5, Manish Kumar b Harbhajan 0, M S Dhani c Mongia b Harbhajan 13, Shaheed Khan c Mongia b Gagandeep 3, Desraj Kumar c Dharmani b Sarandeep 3, Sanjeev Gupta b Gagandeep 19, Anil Kumar not out 5. Extras (nb-6, w-5, lb-9) 20. Total (all out in 108.1 overs) 244.

Fall of wickets:1-77, 2-121, 3-150, 4-161, 5-161, 6-107, 7-208, 8-217, 9-219.

Bowling: Sandeep Sharma 25-6-87-0, Gagandeep Singh 26.1-12-44-4, R Sodhi 20-6-30-0, Harbhajan Singh 33-11-69-5, Sarandeep Singh 4-2-5-1.

Punjab (1st innings): Vikram Rathore batting 137, Ravneet Rickey c Dhoni b Gupta 50, Yuvraj Singh c Dhoni b Gupta 2 Pankaj Dharmani lbw Gupta 0, Reetinder Sodhi lbw Khan 5, Dinesh Mongia batting 67.

Extras (b-1, lb-4, nb-3) 8. Total (for 4 wkts, 70 overs) 269.

Fall of wickets: 1-107, 2-111, 3-111, 4-128.

Bowling: Desraj Kumar 16-2-52-0, Sanjeev Gupta 21-2-82-3, Shaheed Khan 16-2-58-1, Anil Kumar 7-0-37-0, Nikhlesh Ranjan 5-0-14-0, Sunil Kumar 5-0-21-0.

DELHI: Hyderabad held the upperhand as they notched up 347 in their first innings and then reduced Railways to 188 for six wickets on the second day of the Group B Ranji Trophy Super League cricket match on Sunday.

Seasoned paceman Narenderpal Singh did most of the damage, claiming three for 45 as Railways were reeling at 77 for five before a fighting 105-run sixth wicket partnership between Devender Singh (not out 69) and skipper Prahlad Rawat (35) helped the hosts recover at the Karnail Singh Stadium.

Scoreboard
Hyderabad (1st innings): Nand Kishore lbw Parida 119, Yuvraj Singh c Bangar b Bhattacharya 0, V.V.S. Laxman c Balaji b Parida 109, Venka Pratap c Bangar b Balaji 26, Vinay Kumar c Bangar b Balaji 9, Parth Satwalkar c and b Balaji 18, Arjun Yadav c Wankhede b Parida 5, Shivaji Yadav n.o. 23, Venkatapathy Raju b Balaji 0, N.P. Singh lbw Balaji 1, Kanwaljeet Singh cWankhede b Hussain 16.

Extras (lb 5, b 8, nb 7, w 1) 21. Total (106.4 overs) 347.

Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-186, 3-252, 4-274, 5-275, 6-302, 7-302, 8-309, 9-311.

Bowling: Hussain 17.4-3-73-1, Bhattacharya 9-2-31-1, Balaji 28-6-56-5, Devender Singh 10-0-37-0, Parida 34-3-121-3, Rawat 8-2-16-0.

Railways (1st innings): S. Bangar c and b N.P. Singh 2, V. Sharma c (sub) b Kanwaljeet Singh 29, Abhay Sharma c Laxman b N.P. Singh 4, Yere Goud b N.P. Singh 9, Suresh Wankhede c S. Yadav b V. Raju 25, P.S. Rawat lbw Laxman 35, D. Singh n.o. 69, Z. Hussain n.o. 5.

Extras (b 6, lb 2, nb 2) 10. Total (for 6 wkts, 72 overs) 188.

Fall of wickets: 1-2, 2-10, 3-26, 4-77, 5-77, 6-182.

Bowling: N.P. Singh 15-2-45-3, Satwalkar 8-2-20-0, Raju 25-8-45-1, K. Singh 17-3-43-1, S. Yadav 6-0-23-0, Laxman 1-0-4-1.

Uttar Pradesh in sight of victory

RAJKOT: Chasing 389 for victory, hosts Saurashtra were in troubled waters, three down for 39 at draw of stumps on Sunday, the second day of their four-day Ranji Trophy Super League. And considering that 33 wickets have fallen in just two days of the match, Saurashtra's chances of a win look bleak.

On a day when 19 wickets fell, Saurashtra resuming from their overnight 80 for 4, were bowled out for a paltry 118, conceding an 88-run lead as they replied to Uttar Pradesh's first innings aggregate of 206. The visiting skipper Gyanendra Pandey was the wrecker-in-chief, taking five wickets for 38.

Uttar Pradesh, in their second essay, posted 300 thanks mainly to a 108-run partnership for the sixth wicket between Rizwan Shamshad (81) and Mohd. Saif (83). Saurashtra off spinner Nilesh Odedra, who had four wickets in the first innings, grabbed six for 63 the second time around.

Scoreboard
Uttar Pradesh (1st innings): 206

Saurashtra (1st innings): H. Jani c S Shukla b G Pandey 15, V Kumar c J Yadav b A Zaidi 10, H Goswami c P Singh b G Pandey 12, Sitanshu Kotak c J Yadav b M Raza 9, P Bhatt b G Pandey 15, F Bambhania not out 35, H Parsana c S Shukla b G Pandey 0, M Parmar c R Shamshad b Srivastava 0, N Odedra c Mudgal b Srivastava 0, N Rana c S Shukla b G Pandey 2, R Dhruva c R Shamshad b M Raza 1.

Extras (b-13, lb-4, nb-1, w-1) 19. Total (all out, 48.1 overs) 118.

Fall of wickets: 1-22, 2-32, 3-49, 4-65, 5-99, 6-101, 7-102, 8-106, 9-114.

Bowling: Ashish Winston Zaidi 7-1-18-1; S Srivastava 9-1-18-2; Gyanendra Pandey 23-7-38-5; Musi Raza 6.1-0-14-2; P Tiwari 2-0-11-0; Rizwan Shamdshad 1-0-2-0.

Uttar Pradesh (2nd innings): Manoj Mudgal run out 44, Jyoti Yadav b N Rana 9, P Singh lbw R Dhruv 7, Musi Raza b N Odedra 14, Rizwan Shamdshad b N Odedra 81, S Shukla b N Odedra 4, M Saif c N Rana b N Odedra 83, G Pandey c S Kotak b N Odedra 0, AW Zaidi c N Odedra b R Dhruv 18, S Srivastava not out 6, P Tiwari c H Jani b N Odedra 3. Extras (b-29, lb-2) 31. Total (all out, 53.3 overs) 300.

Fall of wickets: 1-21, 2-38, 3-62, 4-91, 5-102, 6-220, 7-222, 8-271, 9-287.

Bowling: N Rana 9-1-24-1; H Goswami 2-0-11-0; R Dhruv 10-1-54-2; H Parsana 9-0-58-0; N Odedra 14.3-0-63-6; S Kotak 3-0-23-0; F Bambhania 5-0-30-0, H Jani 1-0-6-0.

Saurashtra (2nd innings): V Kumar lbw Zaidi 1, H Jani lbw b Srivastava 7, Sitanshu Kotak batting 19, P Bhatt lbw Zaidi 6, N Odedra batting 5.

Extras (nb-1) 1. Total (for three wickets, 16 overs) 39.

Fall of wickets: 1-8, 2-14, 3-29.

Bowling: AW Zaidi 6-1-14-2; Srivastava 4-0-19-1; G Pandey 4-2-2-0; M Raza 1-0-4-0; P Tiwari 1-1-0-0.

CUTTACK: Tamil Nadu took the vital first innings lead, skittling out Orissa for a paltry 195 on the second day of their four-day Ranji Trophy Super League on Sunday.

Tamil Nadu, 132 runs ahead on first innings, were 55 for one in their second knock when stumps were drawn for the day at the Barabati Stadium.

Scoreboard
Tamil Nadu (1st innings): 327

Orissa (1st innings): Shiv Sundar Das b DJ Gokulakrishnan 3, Pradeep Das b S Mahesh 19, Pravanjan Mallick c R Paul b S Mahesh 11, Sanjay Raul b R Bhatia 13, Rashmi Ranjan Parida c R Paul b S Mahesh 35, Rashmi Ranjan Das st R Paul b A Kapoor 3, Yashpal Mohanty not out 59, Sanjay Kumar Satpathy lbw A Kapoor 35, Debasish Mohanty c SV Saravanan b A Kapoor 1, Ajay Barik b S Medappa 1, Bipin Singh c R Paul b D J Gokulakrishanan 6.

Extras (lb-4, nb-4, w-1) 9. Total (all out, 66.4 overs) 195.

Fall of wickets: 1-5, 2-18, 3-43, 4-78, 5-89, 6-89,7-152, 8-155, 9-161.

Bowling: S Mahesh 20-6-63-3; DJ Gokulakrishnan 13.4-3-42-2; Rajat Bhatia 6-0-18-1; Aashish Kapoor 22-8-45-3; Satyajit Medappa 5-1-23-1.

Tamil Nadu (2nd innings): Rajat Bhatia batting 23, Sridharan Sriram c Y Mohanty b S Satpathy 31.

Extras (nb-1) 1. Total (for 1 wicket, 21.4 overs) 55.

Fall of wicket: 1-55.

Bowling: Debasish Mohanty 6-2-10-0; Ajay Barik 4-1-22-0; Sanjay Raul 5-0-14-0; Bipin Singh 3-0-5-0; Pravanjan Mallick 2-2-0-0; Sanjay Satpathy 1.4-0-4-1.