Bhave, Kale slam tons

PUNE, January 1: Maharashtra, propped up by a 161-run fourth wicket partnership between opener Surendra Bhave 156 and middle-order batsman...

PUNE, January 1: Maharashtra, propped up by a 161-run fourth wicket partnership between opener Surendra Bhave 156 and middle-order batsman Abhijit Kale 126, took a vital 112-run first innings lead over Saurashtra on the penultimate day of the West Zone Ranji Trophy league match at the Nehru Stadium here today.

Resuming at overnight 227 for three in 65 overs, the hosts, chasing Saurashtra8217;s first innings 327, were all out for 439 in 524 minutes. The highlight of the Maharashtra innings was a superb batting display by Bhave, who scored 156 306b, 448m, 12215;4 8212; his 21st century in first class Ranji matches. Kale too went on to compile his eighth century. He was stumped by Parmar off Sudhir Tanna on 126 231b, 304m, 11215;4

SCOREBOARD: Saurashtra 1st innings: 327

Maharashtra 1st innings; overnight 227-3: Hemant Kinikar b Parsana 6, Surendra Bhave c Parmar b Garsondia 156, Hrishikesh Kanitkar c Parmar b Garsondia 0, Shantanu Sugwekar c Tanna b Bhambania 76, Abhijit Kale st Parmar b Tanna 126, Indrajit Kamtekar c Parmar b Garsondia 1, Iqbal Siddique b Garsondia 0, Mandar Sane run out Rana 23, Sanjay Kondhalkar c Datta b Kotak 15, Sameer Inamdar b Tanna 11, Milind Kulkarni not out 1; Extras: 4b, 11lb, 2w, 8nb 25. Total: all out in 121.4 overs; 524 mins 439.

Fall of wickets: 1-13, 2-13, 3-120, 4-381, 5-381, 6-382, 7-387, 8-425, 9-432, 10-439

Bowling: Garsondia 31-2-101-4; Rana 12-2-36-0; Parsana 21-1-113-1; Bhambania 28-5-81-1; Kotak 20-0-65-1; Tanna 9.4-2-28-2.

Saurashtra 2nd innings: Sudhir Tanna batting 37, Jayesh Motivaras lbw Sane 6, Sitanshu Kotak b Siddique 12, Bimal Jadeja batting 11; Extras: 5lb, 8nb 13. Total: for 2 wickets in 32 overs; 138 mins 79.

Fall of wickets: 1-31, 2-50

Bowling: Kulkarni 9-1-26-0, Inamdar 3-0-17-0, Sane 6-2-6-1, Siddique 6-2-13-1, Kamtekar 5-1-12-0, Kanitkar 3-3-0-0

Victory beckons Vadodara

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VADODARA: Vadodara piled 462 for 8 and then scalped four Gujarat second innings wickets cheaply to be on the verge of victory on the third and penultimate day of the four-day Ranji Trophy match being played here at IPCL cricket ground.

Earlier a fine century from Jacob Martin and unbeaten 76 from Nayan Mongia saw Vadodara gain a first innings lead of 214 runs. Martin scored his 107 in a stay 238 minutes and hit five fours, while Mongia hit two sixers and two fours during his 162-minute stay.

Brief Scores: Gujarat 248 amp; 65-4 in 24 overs Amrish Kotecha 34; Swaroop 2-14, Arothe 2-2 vs Vadodara 462-8 in 150 overs M Kadri 76, R Swaroop 73, Jacob Martin 107, Darshan Mulhekar 42, Nayan Mongia 76 n.o; Jaimin Patel 2-68, Bhavin Mehta 3-43

TN in command

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu earned the vital first innings lead and looked headed for an outright win against Kerala with a full day8217;s play left in their four-day South Zone league match here.

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At close on the penultimate day8217;s play, Kerala, with a 143-run deficit, were 15 for the loss of opener S Manoj8217;s wicket. S Shankar 6 and Sanjay Mohan 1 were at the crease when stumps were drawn.

Brief Scores: Kerala 323 amp; 15-1 in eight overs vs TN 466 in 149.2 overs S Ramesh 187, S Sharath 129, Robin Singh 51; Masood 4-142, Ramprakash 5-113