Mumbai were ahead by 257 runs in the first innings after Musheer Khan struck an unbeaten 203, with Baroda reaching 127/2 in reply by the close of play on day two of their Ranji Trophy quarterfinal on Saturday. Bhargav Bhatt toiled to return a seven-wicket haul but Musheer worked his way to a fine unbeaten double hundred, powering Mumbai to 383 in the first innings at the BKC Ground.
The visitors were then jolted early in their first innings with opening batter and India U-19 World Cup player Priyanshu Moliya (1) cleaned up by Shardul Thakur, followed by Shams Mulani striking soon to dismiss Jyotsnil Singh for 32.
Baroda were reduced to 65/2 in the 23rd over when the pair of Shashwat Rawat and skipper Vishnu Solanki got together to take their side to the end of play without any further damage.
Rawat was batting on 69 from 88 balls with the help of nine boundaries, whereas Solanki reached 23 not out from 38 balls with a couple of hits to the fence while putting on unbeaten 62 runs for the third wicket.
However, the limelight of the day was once again hogged by Musheer, who converted his maiden first-class hundred into a big score while laying down the foundation for a strong first innings total for Mumbai.
Musheer reached 203 not out from 357 balls with the help of 18 boundaries as his contribution was vital for the home team to get closer to the 400-run mark from 99/4 at one stage on the first day.
The 18-year-old right-handed batter formed a crucial eighth-wicket stand for 181 runs with wicketkeeper-batter Hardik Tamore (57), who himself struck a fine half-century under pressure.
Tamore faced as many as 248 balls and hit only three boundaries to keep the Baroda attack at bay and worked with Musheer to take Mumbai from 142/5 to 323 when the pair was separated.
The hosts were were bowled out for 383 from 140.4 overs with Bhatt adding three more wickets to his first day haul, finishing with 7/112 from as many as 42.4 overs.
Ninad Rathva also shared a heavy bowling workload, returning 38-4-86-3 to account for the remaining wickets.
Brief scores: Mumbai 383 in 140.4 overs (Prithvi Shaw 33, Musheer Khan 203*, Hardik Tamore 57; Bhargav Bhatt 7/112, Ninad Rathva 3/86) lead Baroda 127/2 in 35 overs (Jyotsnil Singh 32, Shashwat Rawat 69*; Shardul Thakur 1/25) by 257 runs.
Sai Kishore, Indrajith, Kumar hand Tamil Nadu lead vs Saurashtra
Skipper R Sai Kishore led by example before Baba Indrajith and Boopathi Kumar struck useful half-centuries to hand Tamil Nadu advantage in their Ranji Trophy quarterfinal against Saurasthra in Coimbatore on Saturday. Thanks to their efforts, Tamil Nadu reached 300 for six at stumps on the second day of the match, giving them a lead of 117 runs with four first-innings wickets in hand.
Resuming the day at 23 for one, night-watchman Sai Kishore (60) and opener Narayan Jagadeesan (37) managed to put on a 54-run partnership for the second wicket before Parth Bhut trapped the latter leg-before with the team score reading 63.
The hosts were in a spot of bother at 85 for three when Pradosh Ranjan Paul (13) fell to Parth Bhut, but Sai Kishore and Indrajith (80) added 49 runs for the fourth wicket to steady the ship.
Sai Kishore, who grabbed five wickets in Saurashtra’s first innings, brought up his third first-class half-century before being dismissed by Jaydev Unadkat.
Boopathi Kumar (65), along with Indrajith, then stitched an impressive 119-run stand for the fifth wicket to put their team in control.
Indrajith was looking good for what would have been his 17th first-class hundred but Dharmendrasinh Jadeja, the visitors’ highest wicket-taker of the season, got rid of the seasoned TN batter, with the team score reading 253 for five.
For the addition 14 runs, Boopathi was cleaned up by Yuvrajsinh Dodiya.
Vijay Shankar (14 batting) and Mohamed Ali (17 batting) saw the day out as Tamil Nadu finished the day with their nose well ahead.
For Saurashtra, it has been a collective effort from their bowling unit with all five bowlers finding themselves among wickets.
Brief scores: Saurashtra 183 trail Tamil Nadu 300-6 (Baba Indrajith 80; Parth Bhut 2/76) by 117 runs.
Madhya Pradesh fight back against Andhra in Ranji Trophy quarterfinal
A collective bowling performance helped Madhya Pradesh stage a remarkable fightback and extend their overall lead to 83 runs at stumps on the second day of their Ranji Trophy quarter-final against Andhra in Indore on Saturday. The 2021-22 winners MP resumed the day at 234 for 9 and they lost their last wicket without adding any run to their total. They had squandered a perfect start to their first innings when openers Yash Dubey (64) and Himanshu Mantri (49) put on 123 for the first wicket.
For Andhra, KV Sasikanth took 4 for 37 while Nithish Kumar Reddy returned with figures of 3/50. Shoaib Mohammed Khan and Girinath Reddy also chipped in with a wicket each as Andhra had a platform set to capitalise on the game.
But Madhya Pradesh bowlers joined forces to pull off a remarkable performance, bowling out Andhra for a mere 172 in their first innings to hand their side a 62-run lead.
None of the Andhra batters could make a mark against a probing MP bowling line-up. Andhra skipper and current Ranji season leading run-scorer Ricky Bhui was dismissed for 32 (53 balls, 5x4s, 1x6s) by Kulwant Khejroliya.
The damage, however, was done at the top by MP and India bowler Avesh Khan who removed Andhra opener DB Prashanth Kumar for a four-ball duck and also accounted for No. 3 Ashwin Hebbar for just one.
Anubhav Agarwal trapped K Revanth Reddy leg-before for 22 and also pinned India batter Hanuma Vihari for 14 in front of the wickets.
Late in the innings, Agarwal accounted for the dangerous Shoaib Mohammad Khan for 22 to return with a fine 18-6-33-3.
Left-arm spinner Kumar Kartikeya also got into the act to return 3/41 from his 19 overs, accounting for the highest-scorer of the innings Karan Shinde (38), Nithish (7) and Sasikanth (12).
The visiting side were bowled out for 172 in 68.3 overs, following which Madhya Pradesh reached 21 for no loss at stumps on the second day with an overall lead of 83 runs.
Dubey was batting on six while wicketkeeper-batter Mantri reached 50 not out with the help of three fours to make it MP’s day on Saturday.
Brief Scores: Madhya Pradesh 234 in 81.1 overs (Yash Dubey 64, Himanshu Mantri 49, Saransh Jain 41 not out; Nithish Kumar Reddy 3/50, KV Sasikanth 4/37) and 21/0 in 7 overs (Himanshu Mantri 15 not out) lead Andhra 172 in 68.3 overs (Karan Shinde 38; Anubhav Agarwal 3/38, Kumar Kartikeya 3/41) by 83 runs.
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