Ranji Trophy: Middle-order rescues Gujarat after poor start

Despite a shaky start, the Gujarat middle-order came to the rescue of their side against Delhi in a round 8 match of the Ranji Trophy at the Arun Jaitely stadium here on Wednesday. The visitors were in trouble after losing four wickets for just 88 runs but an unbeaten Manprit Juneja (88) and Dhruv Raval (83) showed grit and determination to power Gujarat to 269/4 on the second day of the tie.

Earlier, Delhi had scored 293 in their first essay.

In a low-scoring contest in Patiala, hosts Punjab overhauled a 124-run target against Andhra losing six wickets as stumper Anmol Malhotra played an unbeaten 51-run knock.

Bengal's Nilkantha Das's (4/26) four-fer reduced hosts Rajasthan to 156/8 in Jaipur. Earlier in reply to Rajasthan's 241 in the first innings, the visitors had managed to put just 123 on the board.

After wrapping up Vidarbha for 326, Mohammed Azharuddin's 81 helped Kerala end the day at 191/3 in Nagpur. For Vidarbha, Akshay Wakhare scalped two wickets for 41 runs.

Madhya Pradesh were 60/2 against Karnataka, who had amassed a huge 426 in their first innings. Yash Dubey and Shubham Sharma were batting at 17 and 6 respectively when stumps were drawn for the second day.

Arindam Ghosh's 111 took Railways to 291/5 against Himachal Pradesh in Delhi. Earlier, Himachal had managed 283 in their first innings.

Saurashtra, who had bundled out Mumbai for 262 in their first essay, lost wickets in a similar fashion but managed to finish the day at 257/6, thanks to Sheldon Jackson's crucial contribution of 85 runs.

After sending back the entire Baroda side for just 174 runs, Tamil Nadu declared their first innings at 490/7. Later, Baroda were 10 for no loss in Vadodra.IANS