Saurashtra on Course to Take First-innings Lead

Rajkot, Feb 5 (PTI) Sheldon Jackson hit a stroke-filled 85 to put Saurashtra on the verge of securing a vital first innings lead against Mumbai on the second day of their Elite Group B Ranji Trophy match here on Wednesday.

Saurashtra bundled out Mumbai for 262 and then rode on Jackson's gritty 85 to end the second day at 257/6, as they trail by just five runs.

Saurshtra skipper Arpit Vasavada (46) and Chirag Jani (45 not out) also made valuable contributions to take the game away from the 41-time Ranji champion.

Saurashtra lost opener Snell Patel (4) early. Then Mumbai offie Shashank Attarde gave a double-blow to the hosts removing another opener Harvik Desai (33) and Divyaraj Chauhan (22) in quick succession to leave them teetering at 73-3.

Then Jackson and Vasavada began the rescue act by stitching a 82-run stand for the fourth wicket. After playing patiently, Vasavada upped the ante.

However, left-arm pacer Royston Dias trapped Vasavada in front of the wicket as he brought Mumbai back into the game.

Prerak Mankad (1) too fell cheaply as Saurashtra lost half their side at 173. The fall of wickets did not deter Jackson from playing his shots even as he found an able partner in Chirag Jani, who held one end up.

Jackson in his 151-balls innings hammered 10 fours and one hit over the fence. He, however missed a deserving hundred, after edging one from Vinayak Bhoir to wicket-keeper Aditya Tare at the fag end of the day.

Jani and Dharmendrasinh Jadeja (9 not out) were unbeaten when stumps were pulled off.

Earlier, Mumbai added 13 runs to their overnight tally to be dismissed for 262. It took Saurashtra only 17 minutes to wrap up Mumbai's innings with Kushang Patel dismissing Shams Mulani (60) and Tushar Deshpande (6).

Meanwhile in other Group B matches, Railways took the first innings lead against Himachal Pradesh with seasoned pro Arindam Ghosh hitting unbeaten century (111).

At Baroda, experienced Tamil Nadu opener Abhinav Mukund hit a double hundred (206) as the visitors took a massive 316-run first innings lead.

Tamil Nadu racked up 490 for 7 declared after bowling out the home team for 174, built on Mukund's splendid knock and his big opening partnership with L Suryapprakash (75).

At Shimoga, Madhya Pradesh are trailing Karnataka by 366 runs after the latter posted a mammoth 426 in their first essay.

Brief Scores: Mumbai 262 (Sarfaraz Khan 78; Shams Mulani 60; D Jadeja 5/92) vs Saurashtra 257/6 (Sheldon Jackson 85, Arpit Vasavada 46, Royston Dias 2-40) Saurashtra trailed by 5 runs.

At Shimoga: Karnataka 426 (R Samarth 108; K Gowtham 82; Ravi Yadav 3-61) vs Madhya Pradesh 60/2. MP trailed by 366 runs.

At Baroda: Baroda 174 and 10/0 vs Tamil Nadu 490/7 declared (Abhinav Mukund 206, L Suryapprakash 75; Yusuf Pathan 2-67). Baroda trailed by 306 runs.

At New Delhi (Karnail Singh Stadium): Himachal Pradesh 283 vs Railways 291/5 (Arindam Ghosh 111 not out, Mahesh Rawat 60; AP Vashisht 3-76). Railways lead by 8 runs.

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