Overnight not out batsmen Sridharan Sriram and Hemang Badani made 94 and 86 respectively as Tamil Nadu took command of their Elite Group Ranji Trophy match against Orissa at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Saturday.

The duo's efforts ensured that the hosts, who began the day on 144-2, ended up notching 314 all out, a first-innings lead of 192. S Badrinath, who made 37, was the other batsman deserving a mention.

When Orissa batted a second time, Tamil Nadu medium-pacer Laxmipathy Balaji, who had wrecked them in the first innings, claimed two wickets in his first two overs. With No 4 Sanjay Raul also falling early for a duck, Orissa at 13/3 were staring at the possibility of being defeated inside two days. But captain Rashmi Ranjan Parida (22*) and Pravanjan Mullick (35) ensured that their team lived to fight another day. When stumps were drawn at the end of the second day, Orissa were 78-4, needing another 115 runs to make Tamil Nadu bat again.

Sharma, Mongia put Punjab on course for outright win

Medium-pacer Vineet Sharma claimed five wickets as Uttar Pradesh were bowled out for 111 in their first innings against Punjab at the Mohali Stadium on Friday.

The visitors, who resumed on 39-0, found Sharma and left-arm quick Amit Uniyal (3-43) too hot to handle and ended up conceding a 97-run lead. When Punjab batted a second time, captain Dinesh Mongia led from the front, smashing 86 off 87 balls with 15 fours to guide his team to 158-4 (an overall lead of 255) at the end of the day's play. Opener Samrat Sharma (37*) and Reetinder Sodhi (15*) were set to resume battle on their side's behalf on the third day.

Lahiri leads Bengal's fightback

The Bengal-Hyderabad match was nicely poised at the end of the second days' play at Secunderabad. The visitors, who dismissed Hyderabad for 395, had reached 122/3 in reply when stumps were drawn at the end of the day's play.

On Friday morning, off-spinner Saurasish Lahiri claimed five wickets to restrict the hosts, who began the day on 296-4, to 395. Overnight not out batsman D Vinay Kumar went on to make 67. When Bengal replied, they lost wickets at regular intervals, but with Deep Dasgupta (37*) and Rohan Gavaskar (12*) still around, they would be nourishing hopes of gaining the first-innings lead.

Khoda, Doru help Rajasthan post strong reply

At Jaipur, opener Gagan Khoda made 84 and Nikhil Doru 64 as Rajasthan gained a 79-run lead against Himachal Pradesh with three first-innings wickets in hand.

Khoda and Doru got together after their team had been reduced to 5/2 in the morning. Playing watchfully, the duo put on 167 for the third wicket to help their team past the the Himachal total of 166. With Sanjeev Sharma making an unbeaten 29 and Extras yielding 37, Rajasthan then went on to end the second day at 245-7.

Powar, Bahatule help Mumbai recover

At the the Karnail Singh Stadium, Delhi, Rajesh Powar made 71 while Sairaj Bahatule chipped in with 67 as Mumbai recovered to post 248 against Railways on the second day.

The duo, who got together with their team's score at 93-7, posted 87 for the seventh wicket before Powar (71 off 177 balls) was dismissed. Bahatule, who made a slow start, then took over and guided his team to a respectable total by the time he became the last wicket to fall. By the time stumps were drawn, Railways had made 15-0 in four overs.

Wickets tumble in a hurry in Andhra-Delhi match

Delhi were left needing 128 runs with nine second innings wickets in hand at the end of the second day's play against Andhra at the Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi.

In the morning, Delhi, who began their first innings on 59/5, were bowled out for 111. Medium-pacer Syeb Sahabuddin, who claimed seven wickets, was the wrecker-in-chief for Andhra, who earned a 87-run first-innings lead.

Medium-pacer Amit Bhandari and off-spinner Sarandeep Singh, though, brought Delhi roaring back into the game claiming four wickets each to bowl Andhra out for 97 in their second essay. With opener Akash Chopra making a steady uinbeaten 35, the hosts ensured that they had a very good chance of pulling of a win despite their poor first innings show.

Naidu century helps Vidarbha amass large total

Vidarbha virtually batted Tripura out of their Ranji Trophy plate group match at Nagpur, with Vivek Naidu posting 113 out of his side's final score of 445.

Naidu's innings was studded with 18 fours and took 152 balls, and along with consistent lower middle-order performances, gave Vidarbha a definite edge. Nitin Gawande made 50, RS Paradkar hit 47, and Chandrasekhar Atram made the second-highest score of the innings with 61 off 104 balls (8x4, 1x6). Along with Madhusudan Acharya's 55, that made four fifty-plus scores in the innings, apart from Naidu's century.

At the close of play, Tripura were 52 for one in 15 overs, still 291 runs behind Vidarbha with two days of play remaining.

Joginder Sharma gives Haryana the lead at Gurgaon

A knock of 80 off just 102 balls from lower middle-order bat Joginder Sharma gave Haryana a lead of 66 by the close of play in their Ranji plate group match against Bihar at Gurgaon.

Resuming from 23 for no loss, Haryana reached 291 for seven by stumps. Opener and skipper Jitender Sharma made 73 off 165 balls (11x4), but no other batsman really got set until Joginder. He added 104 runs for the sixth wicket with Sumit Sharma, who was still present at the crease on 34 when play ended.

Maharashtra consolidate advantage at Pune

Maharashtra extended their domination of Jammu & Kashmir at Pune by racking up 397 in their first innings after bowling their rivals out for 131.

Top-scoring for Maharashtra, Ranjit Khirid made 89 off 136 balls, striking 13 fours and one six in the process. This knock came after opener NA Godbole struck 68, and a string of other significant scores in the middle order saw Maharashtra reach 397 before being bowled out in 108.2 overs. For Jammu & Kashmir, Surendra Singh took five wickets for 75.

In reply, Jammu & Kashmir were 45 for one in 19 overs when stumps were called at the Deccan Gymkhana Ground stadium.

Kerala dominate Services at Delhi

Putting on a massive 478 for eight declared in their first innings, Kerala were well-served by their batsmen, and the score gave the side a definite edge in their Ranji plate-group tie against Services at Delhi.

Although skipper Sunil Oasis fell early, without adding to his overnight score of 71, C Hemanth Kumar continued to strike the ball sweetly. He had posted 81 runs for the fourth wicket with Sreekumar Nair before falling on 150 off 328 balls with 14 fours.

Nair too put the bowling to the sword, striking an imperious 133 off 194 balls with 15 fours and one six. His knock enabled Oasis to declare the innings closed at 478 for eight, and in reply, Services had reached 51 for one by stumps, with KN Ananthapadmanabhan already striking with his leg-spin.

Karnataka-Madhya Pradesh tie evenly poised

The Karnataka-Madhya Pradesh Ranji plate group match at Gwalior was evenly poised at the end of the second day, with Karnataka responding strongly to the hosts'first-innings total.

Madhya Pradesh hit up 314 in their first essay after winning the toss, a score based largely on Devendra Bundela making a sedate 71 off 241 balls with six fours and a six. B Tomar was relatively quicker with his 60, which came off 115 balls. For Karnataka, Venkatesh Prasad took three wickets, while left-arm spinner Sunil Joshi snapped up four.

Karnataka lost Barrington Rowland early, but J Arunkumar and Deepak Chougule batted well to add 97 runs for the second wicket. Arunkumar was dismissed four runs short of a fifty, but Chougule, in the company of Vijay Bharadwaj, took Karnataka safely through to stumps, getting to his 50 in the process. At the close of play, the visitors were 134 for two.

© CricInfo