Ashok Dinda‘s 7 for 21 left Bengal harbouring hopes of an outright win in Raipur. Chhattisgarh, resuming on 62 for 5 in their first innings on the third day, were shot out for 110 in 39.5 overs. Made to follow-on, they were driven by Abhimanyu Chauhan’s century that helped drag the game into the final day. At 229 for 5, they still trail Bengal by 190.
Mohammed Shami, left out of the ODI series against New Zealand, removed two key members of Chhattisgarh’s batting line-up – Amandeep Khare and Mohammad Kaif, the captain – for ducks. Khare, the side’s highest run-getter last season, bagged a pair. Shami finished the day with 4 for 45, to take his match tally to six wickets so far.
Akshay Karnewar, the ambidextrous spinner, and Akshay Wakhare, the offspinner, picked 10 wickets between them as Vidarbha consigned Punjab to an innings and 117-run loss in Mohali. Vidarbha, who posted 505 to secure a first-innings lead of 344, shot Punjab out for 227. This was Karnewar’s maiden five-for. He finished with 6 for 47.
As many as four Punjab batsmen got off to starts, with Manan Vohra’s 51 being the highest. Yuvraj Singh, who fell for 20 in the first innings, made a 87-ball 42 in the second dig courtesy six fours and two sixes. Abhishek Sharma, who earlier in the day was picked in the India squad for the Under-19 Asia Cup, made 49.
A strong opening stand in the second innings kept Goa‘s hopes of salvaging a draw alive in Dharamsala, after they conceded a mammoth lead to Himachal Pradesh. Pankaj Jaiswal notched up the second-fastest recorded fifty (off just 16 balls) in Ranji Trophy history to swell Himachal’s total to 625 for 7 declared, after Nikhil Gangta, Ankush Bains and Priyanshu Khanduri struck centuries. Behind by 370, half-centuries from Swapnil Asnodkar and Sumiran Amonkar drove Goa to 131 without loss at close.
Source: ESPN Crickinfo