Delhi in control after curtailed day three against Haryana

Sumit Narwal and Rajat Bhatia were in the middle on 13 and 1 respectively after skipper Gautam Gambhir struck a handy 46. Haryana’s seasoned medium pacer Joginder Sharma was the pick of the bowlers, taking three crucial wickets including first innings centurion Virender Sehwag (8).

Sehwag, who had hammered 147 yesterday, lasted for 25 balls and was trapped in front by Sharma.

Having already secured a first innings lead, group leaders Delhi would press for their fourth straight outright win on the final day, weather permitting of course.

The visitors took the crucial first innings lead yesterday by bowling out Haryana for 188 after making 278 in the first innings.

Brief Scores:
Delhi: 278 & 134/5 in 41 overs (Gautam Gambhir 46, Shivam Sharma 25; Joginder Sharma 3/18, Kuldeep Hooda 2/22)
Haryana: 188 all out

Punjab in dire straits

Punjab were fighting with their backs to the wall against a fine tuned Rajasthani bowling attack, the visitors were reeling at 85 for three in their second innings after being asked to follow on in their Ranji Trophy Group B cricket match at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium in Jaipur on Wednesday.

Forced to follow-on, Punjab lost three wickets in the last session to find themselves in dire straits. At the close of play, Taruvar Kohli (34) and Yuvraj Singh (12) at the crease. Punjab still trail by 73 runs with seven wickets in hand.

Brief scores:
Rajasthan 1st innings: 433
Punjab: 275 & 85 for three in 28 overs (Taruwar Kohli 34 not out, Pankaj Singh 2/23)

Maharashtra set for outright win against Saurashtra

Riding on a splendid bowling show by Chirag Khurana, Maharashtra look set for an outright win after reducing Saurashtra to 53 for four in their second innings on the penultimate day of a Group B Ranji Trophy cricket match in Rajkot on Wednesday.

The visitors amassed a massive 519 in their first innings and then bundled out the hosts for 273. Maharashtra skipper Rohit Motwani opted to enforce the follow-on.

In their second innings, Saurashtra lost four wickets with just 53 runs on the board, and now face a herculean task of avoiding an innings defeat.

Brief Scores:
Maharashtra: 519
Saurashtra: 273 (Sheldon Jackson 102, Saurya Sanandiya 40; Chirag Khurana 5/70, Akshay Darekar 3/89) and 53 for 4 in 22 overs (Bhushan Chauhan 21, Sagar Jogiyani 18; Akshay Darekar 2/8)

Odisha struggling at 137 for nine

Ganesh Satish’s 99-run knock helped Vidarbha reach a total of 240 all out in their first innings before the bowlers did a fabulous job to reduce Odisha to 137 for nine at the end of day three of their Ranji Trophy Group B cricket match in Sambalpur on Wednesday.

Odisha still trail by 103 runs with just one wicket in hand and in all likelihood would concede the first innings lead. At stumps, Basant Mohanty was unbeaten on eight.

Brief scores:
Vidarbha 1st inngs: 240 all out in 98.3 overs (Ganesh Satish 99, Amol Ubarhande 33; Basant Mohanty 3/44, Biplab Samantray 3/50)
Odisha 1st inngs: 137 for nine in 50 overs (Biplab Samantray 33, Deepak Behera 33; Swapnil Bandiwar 3/29, Shrikant Wagh 3/52)