Indian Railways ground home their advantage on the second day of their semi-final clash with New Zealand 'A' in the MRF Buchi Babu Tournament at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. After dismissing New Zealand 'A' for a low 129 and notching up 114/4 at the end of the first day, Indian Railways went on to make 279. The first innings lead was a handy 150 runs. In their second essay, New Zealand 'A' are 216/6 off 42 overs. With one day to play, New Zealand 'A' are effectively up by 66 runs with 4 second innings wickets to come.

For Indian Railways, Yere Goud was the hero, striking 125 (397 mins, 289 balls, 16 fours, 1 six). This is Goud's second ton in the tournament and a timely one indeed. Remaining unbeaten, Goud batted in the company of several partners, with P Rawat (38) contributing the most.

In the New Zealand 'A' second innings, it was a familiar story once more as Mark Richardson held fort with an attacking 71 (93 balls, 8 fours). Chris Nevin (6) promoted in the batting order, failed to impress. While skipper Matthew Bell got a start he did not spend a significant amount of time at the wicket and was dismissed for 38. Lou Vincent continued a run of good form and remained unbeaten on 57 off just 50 balls when play was called off for the day. Striking 8 boundaries in his innings thus far, Vincent has shown that a positive approach is crucial for taking on the spinners in the subcontinent.

The match remains interestingly poised, and the first session of the final day could be crucial.

CAB in a strong position

A tame batting performance which ended with a surprising declaration saw Jolly Rovers concede a 88-run first innings lead at the end of the second day of their MRF Buchi Babu semi-final against Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) on Saturday.

J Hariesh, who made 55, opener Vikram Kumar (40) and J Joseph (36) were the only batsmen to make any runs as Rovers struggled to negotiate the spin of Snehasish Lahiri and Utpal Chatterjee. The agony of the batsmen only ended when Rovers captain Ajay Kudua declared when his team were 193 for nine. Lahiri, an off-spinner with a suspect action, claimed 5-68 in 27 overs. Chatterjee, a former Indian left-arm spinner, claimed two wickets.

CAB, in their second innings, lost two quick wickets in the eight overs that they faced, as left-arm spinner Diwakar Vasu and offie R Ramkumar struck for Rovers. With Sunday being the last day it though looks highly unlikely that Rovers will come back and win.

Earlier, in the morning, Vasu quickly claimed the last two CAB wickets to bowl them out for 281. Chatterjee, who was batting on 57 overnight, remained unbeaten on 60. Vasu and Ramkumar, who claimed two wickets each were the top wicket-takers.

© CricInfo