Left-arm spinner Saurabh Kumar continued the Uttar Pradesh fightback with 4 for 54, with an economy rate under 2, as Assam finished the second day on 279 for 6, still trailing by 70 runs. He had already struck a century from No. 8 to lift his side to a more than respectable 349, but clearly it wasn’t enough to satisfy him. Coming on as the second-change bowler, he knocked over four of the top five in Assam’s line-up to make sure the visitors retained the upper hand in Guwahati. Only Sibsankar Roy (72) and Rishav Das (52) were able to progress past fifty. Assam’s hopes of a first-innings rest rather heavily on Swarupam Purkayastha (34 not out) and Pallavkumar Das (10 not out).
Wicketkeeper-batsman Rohit Motwani built on his overnight half-century to make a career-best 189 to help Maharashtra put on 481 against Railways in Pune. Railways responded with an unbroken stand of 88 for the opening wicket that took them to stumps 393 runs behind on the second day.
Maharashtra had begun the day on 249 for 5. They lost Chirag Khurana and Nikit Dhumal in quick succession and were reduced to 287 for 7, before Motwani dominated partnerships with the tail enders, putting on a combined 194 runs for the last three wickets. It began with 94-run stand for the eighth with debutant Mukesh Choudhary, during which Motwani brought up his fourth first-class hundred. He was the last man out, eleven short of a double-hundred, having struck 24 fours and three sixes.
Source: ESPN Crickinfo