Jaffer ton helps Mumbai secure 179-run lead

Rajasthan made a confident start to their reply after dismissing Railways for 384 on the second day of their elite group encounter at Jaipur. The hosts were 92-0 with openers Anshu Jain and Vineet Saxena, unbeaten on 38 and 46 respectively.

Earlier, overnight not out batsmen Yere Goud (49) and Jacob Martin (27) fell early as the defending Ranji Champions only succeeded in adding 102 runs before being dismissed in their first essay. For Rajasthan, left-arm quick Pudiyangum Krishnakumar and left-arm spinner Mohammad Aslam, who claimed three wickets each, were the most successful bowlers.

At Wankhede Stadium,Mumbai, a century from opener Wasim Jaffer (106) and a 69 from all-rounder Ajit Agarkar helped hosts Mumbai gain a 179-run first innings lead. The contributions of the duo ensured that the hosts made 302 all out in reply to Delhi's modest first innings total of 123. By stumps on the second day, Delhi had managed to reduce the deficit to 127 runs; openers Akash Chopra (33*) and Gautam Gambhir (17*) guiding their team to 52-0 in the second essay.

A 118-run seventh wicket partnership between Nayan Mongia (70) and Irfan Pathan (54), meanwhile, helped Baroda reach 381 all out in their first innings against Tamil Nadu at Chennai. Valmik Buch, who made 30, was the other batsman who made a useful contribution for the visitors. When Tamil Nadu replied, Sadagoppan Ramesh (45) and Shridharan Sriram (66*) forged a 97-run second wicket partnership to guide the hosts to 112-2 at stumps.

At the famed Eden Gardens ground, hosts Bengal were in deep strife replying to Himachal Pradesh's first innings total of 290. The Tamil Nadu-born of-spinner Aashish Kapoor, who claimed four wickets for twelve runs, was the man responsible for initiating a collapse that reduced the hosts to 128-7 in their first essay. This after Devang Gandhi (63) and skipper Rohan Gavaskar (39) had put on 79 runs for the third wicket. But once Gandhi fell, wickets began to fall in a hurry. Left-arm quick Ashok Thakur, making his fourth appearance in first-class match provided able support to Kapoor snaring three wickets.

In another elite group match played at Secunderabad, Andhra skipper MSK Prasad kept his team in the hunt for the first innings lead against Hyderabad. Prasad made a stroke-filled 91 not out while Y Venugopal Rao and Amit Pathak, weighed in with 59 and 51 respectively, as their team reached 274-5 in reply to Hyderabad's 353.

The Punjab-Orissa elite group match at the Barabati Stadium, Cuttack, for its part, was poised interestingly at the end of the second day's play. After the hosts ended their first innings on 301, Punjab made 141-4. Orissa's Sanjay Raul, who made 72, and Punja opener Ravneet Ricky, who made 51, were the stand-out batsmen of the day.

All-rounder B Akhil made 68 and claimed four second innings wickets as Karnataka piled on the pressure on Bihar at Ranchi. In the morning, Akhil's stroke-filled fifty along with an overnight not out batsman Thilak Naidu's 86 secured the visitors a handy 188-run lead. Faced with the task of avoiding an innings defeat, Bihar were soon in trouble. But captain Rajiv Kumar (31*) and Manish Kumar (13*) ensured that hosts lived to fight another day.

At Indore, Abhijit Kale followed in his skipper Hrishikesh Kanitkar's footsteps, completing a patient hundred to guide Maharashtra to 334 in their first innings against Madhya Pradesh. Leg-spinner Narender Hirwani, who claimed four wickets, was the most successful bowler for the hosts.

When Madhya Pradesh replied, it was the turn of their captain Amay Khurasiya to lead the way with an unbeaten 91. Khurasiya's swashbuckling 112-ball knock, studded with 15 boundaries, ensured that his team were 141-2 at stumps, despite both the openers falling for low scores.

Haryana, for their part, were in sight of an outright win in their low-scoring plate group match against Jammu and Kashmir. At the Molana Azad Stadium, Jammu, the visitors were 52-3 in their second essay, chasing 82 to win. Earlier, Haryana, who began the second day on 102-5, reached 168 all out - a lead of 47 runs - thanks in main to a 51 from overnight not out batsman Shafiq Khan. Spinners Jagtar Singh and Ashwani Gupta claimed four and three wickets respectively for the hosts.

When Jammu and Kashmir, batted for a second time, middle-order batsman Kanvaljit Singh made 51 to guide his team to 128 all out on a difficult pitch, securing them an overall lead of 81 in the process. With medium-pacer Vijay Sharma claiming three wickets to reduce Haryana to 32-3 in the fourth innings, the hosts suddenly began to nourish hopes of a surprise win. But Haryana skipper Ajay Ratra walked in that stage and made an unbeaten 35-ball 21 to ensure that his team needed just 30 runs with seven second innings wickets remaining to complete their second win in second matches.