Ranji champions Railways are on the back foot at the end of the second day of their Ranji Trophy elite group opener. Playing at the Feroze Shah Kotla, they have conceded a 14-run lead to hosts Delhi, who also have eight first innings wickets in hand.

After dismissing the Railwaymen for 205 on the second morning, Delhi posted 219 for two in reply, thanks to an unbeaten 170-run partnership between opener Gautam Gambhir (82*) and Mithun Minhas (86*). With just two days of play remaining, the hosts are now in a position from where they might even be able to push for an outright win.

Last year's Ranji Trophy runners-up Baroda, for their part, were also struggling against Punjab in another elite group match being played at Mohali. Even a century at the top of the order from captain Connor Williams could not help them get past Punjab's first-innings total of 220. They could only make 191; fast bowlers Gagandeep Singh (4-35) and Amit Unyal (3-52) being the main wicket-takers. Batting for the second time in the match, the hosts went on to extend their lead to 46 before the end of the day's play.

Mumbai, meanwhile, have fought back in their second innings after conceding a 32-run first innings lead to Hyderabad at the Gymkhana Ground, Secunderabad.

Hyderabad, who resumed at 82-5, lost wickets at steady intervals to be dismissed for 130. Mumbai medium-pacer Aavishkar Salvi, with five wickets, was the wrecker-in-chief. When the visitors batted for the second time, opener Vinayak Mane made 83, as his team reached 194-3 before stumps were drawn.

Another tie at Eden Gardens saw hosts Bengal play themselves into a commanding position in their four-dayer against Rajasthan. With captain Rohan Gavaskar and Subhomoy Das scoring half-centuries on the second day, the hosts posted an impressive 413 in their first innings. Rajasthan, in reply, lost three wickets after a 48-run opening stand, to end up with 94-3 before stumps were drawn.

Centuries from opener Nischal Gaur and middle-order bat Amit Sharma, meanwhile, helped Himachal Pradesh post 320-8 by the end of the second-day of the four-dayer against hosts Andhra Pradesh being played at Indira Gandhi Stadium, Vijayawada. Andhra are yet to bat.

In the last Elite Group tie - a high-scoring game at the North-East Frontier Railway Stadium, Guwahati - Assam made a strong reply to Orissa's first innings total of 347. The men who led the hosts's fightback were former Mumbai players Manoj Joglekar and Kiran Powar, batting on 91 and 93 respectively.

Jammu and Kashmir pile on the runs against Bihar

Centurions Ashwani Gupta and debutant Shammy Salaria forged a 210-run stand, as Jammu and Kashmir reached 502-8 at the end of the second day of their plate group encounter against Bihar. Gupta made 188 not out while Salaria stroked his way to 115 off 172 balls with 14 fours and three sixes to put the visitors in an almost impreganble position in the four-dayer, being played at the Keenan Stadium, Jamshedpur.

A fine bowling performance from Venkatesh Prasad, meanwhile, secured visitors Karnataka a handy 56-run lead in their match against Maharashtra, being played at the Nehru Stadium, Pune.

In the morning, Karnataka, who resumed at 220-9 extended their total to 252. Dodda Ganesh, who resumed on 35 not out, ended with an unbeaten 59. When the hosts replied, as many as three batsmen - captain Hrishikesh Kanitkar, Abhijit Kale and wicket-keeper Satyajit Satbhai - made 33 each. But the fact that none of them could push on to make bigger scores proved to be Maharashtra's undoing.

In the only other Plate group encounter, Madhya Pradesh remained in the hunt for the first innings lead, replying with 206-5 after Haryana were dismissed for 333. Opener Mudassar Pasha, who made an unbeaten 84 off 206 balls, anchored the visitors reply at Rohtak.

Earlier, Amit Mishra missed his maiden Ranji ton by 16 runs. Joginder Singh, the other overnight not out batsman, for his part, made 81.

© CricInfo