Ranji Trophy, Group B: Mumbai on verge of lead against Baroda, Karnataka take edge over Tamil Nadu

Off-spinner K Gowtham (3 for 61) with a three-wicket haul on Tuesday helped Karnataka seize the advantage against Tamil Nadu at stumps on the second day of the Ranji Trophy Group 'B' match here with the hosts still trailing by 171 runs. The experienced Dinesh Karthik (23 batting) holds the key for Tamil Nadu, which finished the day at 165 for 4 in response to Karnataka's first innings score of 336 all out.

Test spinner Ravichandran Ashwin (4 for 79) was on a hat-trick before being denied by No.11 V Koushik and helped the team end Karnataka's resistance.

The home team appeared to be in control as openers-Abhinav Mukund (47) and Murali Vijay (32) appeared untroubled while adding 81 runs.

Mukund was on the lookout for runs and played some superb shots while Vijay took his time to get going.

Gowtham provided the breakthrough for Karnataka by having Vijay leg before and had the left-handed Mukund caught behind by BR Sharath one run later.

Captain Vijay Shankar's promising innings was cut short when he was adjudged leg before off Gowtham on 12 when the ball appeared to have hit him a bit high.

Karthik and B Aparajith (37, 86 balls, 3 fours, 1 six) put on 45 runs for the fourth wicket before Ronit More in the middle of a good spell, got the latter to edge one to the keeper.

Karthik and N Jagadeesan (batting on 6) were at the crease when stumps were drawn due to bad light with a little over 15 overs to be bowled.

Earlier, the hard-working R Ashwin, who bowled 33.4 overs finished off Karnataka's lower-order by scalping three wickets including that of Gowtham, who came up with some lusty hits in his knock of 51 (39 balls, 4 fours, 4 sixes).

Resuming at 259 for 6, the visiting team's cause was helped by David Mathias (26) and Gowtham, who pushed the score past 300.

R Ashwin got the wickets of Mathias and Ronit More off successive ball but Koushik denied him a hat-trick.

Meanwhile, domestic giants Mumbai are on the cusp of getting a first-innings lead after reducing Baroda to 301/9 despite a valiant unbeaten 100 by their opener Kedar Devdhar.

Resuming on their overnight score of 362/8, Mumbai added 69 runs to their tally, as their innings folded up at 431.

For Mumbai, spinner Shams Mulani shone with both the bat and ball, as his 89 helped them cross the 400-run mark. Mulani, who was unbeaten on 56, added 33 runs to his score and eventually fell at 89.

He hammered 11 fours and two sixes in his 141-ball knock.

Mulani played responsibly with the tail-enders Shashank Attarde (22) and Tushar Deshpande (18 not out), and was the last man to be dismissed, as he missed what could have been a terrific 100.

For Baroda, opener Kedar Devdhar (154 not out) staged a lone battle as Mulani (5-99) ran through their batting line up.

Devdhar was the cynosure of eyes at the Reliance Stadium here, as he took the Mumbai attack to cleaners on the second day of the four-day game.
Devdhar has struck 20 fours and a six in his 184-ball stay at the crease so far.

It will be an uphill task for Baroda if they want to go past Mumbai's first innings total.

Devdhar got support only from Vishnu Solanki (48) at the top, as the other opener Aditya Waghmode (2), Deepak Hooda (24), skipper Krunal Pandya (1) and Yusuf Pathan (2) fell cheaply.

Wicket-keeper Viraj Bhosale (27) played his part as he supported Devdhar, but the stumper failed to convert his start.

Same was the case with Bhargav Bhatt (22), as Devdhar was devoid of partners at the other end.

Brief Scores: Mumbai 431 all out (Shams Mulani 89, Ajinkya Rahane 79, Yusuf Pathan 3-26, Bhargav Bhatt 3-125) versus Baroda 301/9 (Kedar Devdhar 154 not out, V P Solanki 48, Shams Mulani 5-99). Baroda trail by 130 runs.

At Dharamshala: Himachal Pradesh 120 and 182 (Ankush Bains 74, Ravi Dhawan 53; Jaydev Unadkat 6-51) versus Saurashtra 141 (Dharmendrasinh Jadeja 47, Snell Patel 42; Vaibhav Arora 6-48) and 96/3 (Harvik Desai 46, Snell Patel 15; Vaibhav Arora 2-29). Saurashtra need 66 runs to win.

At Meerut: Railways 253 and 58/5 (Nitin Bhille 18, Shivam Mavi 3-9, Yash Dayal 2-19) versus Uttar Pradesh 175 (Almas Shaukat 92 not out, Saurabh Kumar 21; Amit Verma 4-52, Himanshu Sangwan 4-71). Railways lead by 136 runs.

At Dindigul: Karnataka 336 all out in 110.4 overs (Devdutt Padikkal 78, Pavan Deshpande 65, K Gowtham 51; R Ashwin 4/79, M Siddharth 2/47, K Vignesh 2/55) versus Tamil Nadu 165 for 4 in 58 overs (Abhinav Mukund 47, B Aparajith 37, M Vijay 32, Dinesh Karthik 23 batting; K Gowtham 3/61).