Indian pacer Mukesh Kumar returned with an impressive match win of 10 for 50, while Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal also shone with the ball to steer Bengal to a huge innings and 204-run win over Bihar in a Ranji Trophy Group B match in Kolkata on Sunday. Resuming their second innings at 32 for 1, Bihar crumbled like a deck of cards for Mukesh (6/32) and Jaiswal (4/34) to be bowled out for 112. Mukesh (4/18) and Jaiswal (4/ 47). ) had earlier collected four wickets each to bundle our Bihar for 95 in their first innings.
In reply, Bengal piled up a mammoth score of 411 for 5 declared, building on Abhimanyu Easwaran's unbeaten 200 and Abhishek Porel's 56.
Bihar never got into the match in the second innings as they found the pair of Mukesh and Jaiswal difficult to tackle from the start.
Sakibul Gani top scored for Bihar with a 25-ball 28.
The win gave Bengal seven points from the match, including a bonus point for the innings victory.
In another Group B match in Lucknow, Chhattishgarh are in a strong position after taking the all-important first innings lead against Uttar Pradesh.
Resuming at the overnight score of 124 for 5, Uttar Pradesh were bowled out for 238 in 67.5 overs in reply to Chhattishgarh's 414.
Saurabh Kumar (55), Yash Dayal (55) and skipper Nitish Rana (54) scored half-centuries for Uttar Pradesh.
Ravi Kiran (3/59) and Jivesh Butte (3/66) shared six wickets, while Ashish Chouhan (2/62) scalped two.
At stumps on the third day of play, Chhattisgarh reached 124 for 5 in 37 overs, extending their overall lead to 300 runs.
Ashutosh Singh (43) and Shashank Chandrakar (42) were the key contributors with the bat.
For UP, Sivam Sharma (3/14) scalped three wickets.
Vysakh, Srinivas hundreds power Karnataka to command Chandigarh
Sharath Srinivas and Vysakh Vijaykumar hit a string of unbeaten hundreds as Karnataka put themselves in a prime position to push for an outright win against Chandigarh on the third day of their Ranji Trophy Group C match in Hubli on Sunday.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Srinivas (100, 160b, 11×4) and Vysakh (103, 141b, 10×4, 2×6) added 198 runs for the sixth wicket stand as Karnataka declared their first innings at 563 for five.
It gave the home side a lead of 296 points and eventually Chandigarh reached 61 points without loss.
Karnataka started the day at 268 for three, just one point ahead of veteran batsman Manish Pandey, 102 overnight, with young Hardik Raj (49) for company.
They batted with purpose as Pandey cruised to 148 and Hardik reached 82.
But their 239-run association for the fourth wicket ended when Hardik succumbed to left-arm spinner Karan Kalia, Chandigarh's most successful bowler (3/143).
Karnataka were then 354 for 4.
Kalia held Pandey's leg before eleven runs later, but the hosts found two more willing soldiers in Srinivas and Vysakh as they both made their maiden first-class hundreds.
Karnataka now sit second in Group C, 24 points behind Gujarat (25 points) and they will be looking for an outright win to top the group.
As things stand, Karnataka can finish the group matches with 27 points thanks to their first-innings lead. But an outright win, even by innings, will take their tally to 31.
In Salem, Tamil Nadu will battle for a spot in the quarter-finals against Punjab. TN has 22 runs and has taken the first innings lead over Punjab.
If the match ends in a draw, TN will have 25 points like Gujarat, but they can advance to knockouts after achieving a better Net Run Rate of 1.78 compared to the Western side's 1.11.
But if they win, Tamil Nadu can have 28 points.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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