Mumbai gain big first innings lead

New Delhi, Nov. 3: Young pacer Tushar Deshpande recorded his career-best figures of 6 for 70 to help Mumbai earn a sizeable first innings lead against Railways on the third day of their Ranji Trophy group A encounter here on Saturday.

Deshpande's second five-wicket haul in firstclass cricket saw Mumbai dismiss Railways for 307 in their first innings thereby taking a 104-run lead.

At stumps, Mumbai were 57 for 2, consolidating their overall lead to 161 going into the final day of the opening round clash. However credit should be given to Railways lower-order batsmen, who were instrumental in taking the team past 300-run mark and eating into Mumbai's time to register an outright win.

It will be interesting if Mumbai captain Dhawal Kulkarni opts for a sporting declaration in his bid to get full points from the match. Starting the day at 115 for six, Arindam Ghosh (71, 197 balls) and Harsh Tyagi (39, 142 balls) added 58 runs in 28.4 overs for the seventh wicket.

Rain plays spoilsport Rain played spoilsport on day three of the Ranji Trophy Elite Group 'B' match between Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh here Saturday as no play was possible. Play was called off at 3.45 PM after several inspections without a ball being bowled.

Tamil Nadu was zero for no loss in two overs at stumps on Friday in reply to Madhya Pradesh's first innings score of 393, built on Ranjit Patidar’s brilliant 196.

Uphill task for J&K At Jaipur, Rajasthan set a target of 395 for Jammu and Kashmir in their Elite Group C match. After posting 379 in the first innings, Rajasthan bundled out Jammu and Kashmir for 204 and later declared the second innings for 219/4, putting together overall lead of 394. Jammu and Kashmir started from their overnight score of 186/7 but were able to add only 18 runs to their tally and eventually were bowled out for 204. For Rajasthan, leg-spinner Rahul Chahar starred with the ball as he picked up a five-wicket haul. — PTI