Baroda wrap up 246-run win against MP

Baroda took only 16.4 overs on the third morning to dismiss the remaining five Madhya Pradesh batsman and register a massive 246-run win at Moti Bagh. After being 58 for 5 overnight, MP were only able to add 32 runs before being dismissed for 90 - 30 more than their first-innings effort.

Yusuf Pathan, who scored an aggressive century in the second innings, triggered MP's downfall with the wicket of Rameez Khan in the fourth over of the third morning before adding two more wickets to finish with figures of 10-2-27-3. The remaining two wickets went to Bhargav Bhatt to give him a five-wicket haul, his eighth in first-class cricket.

On a pitch that is likely to come under the BCCI scanner, 36 wickets went to spinners. Munaf Patel, the Baroda seamer, bowled only four overs in the first innings and wasn't used in the second. MP's Ishwar Pandey bowled 17 overs in the match and managed four wickets, but the best bowler across both sides was Jalaj Saxena, returning with career-best 13 for 124.

It was Baroda's first win this season. They have now seven points from four matches, while MP have eight from five.

Uttar Pradesh's batting revolved around Prashant Gupta's maiden first-class century, which set up a daunting target of 361 for Rajasthan in Jaipur.

Mohammad Kaif, the UP captain, was resolute in morning session while Gupta ensured the scoreboard ticked along. Their 83-run stand for the third wicket, to which Kaif contributed 19, was the first of four consecutive fifty-partnerships down the order. Gupta's innings included 21 fours and two sixes and his next two partners, Arish Alam and Parvinder Singh, were free-spirited as well. The duo of Gupta and Parvinder were particularly effective, collecting 64 runs in 71 balls before Gupta succumbed for 144. Parvinder continued to record a half-century, soon after which the innings was declared. Aniket Chaudhary, the left-arm seamer, was the best of the bowlers, with 3 for 48 off his 23 overs.

Rajasthan were unscathed in the four overs until stumps and will need over 300 runs on the last day to put up their first victory of the season and move up from the bottom of the Group B table.

Saurashtra 326 for 3 (Pujara 152*, Shah 133*) trail Tamil Nadu 565 for 8 dec by 239 runs
Scorecard

The chances of an outright win for either side looked dire at the end of the third day in Chennai, as centuries by captain Jaydev Shah and Cheteshwar Pujara put Saurashtra in a good position to match Tamil Nadu's 565 for 8. Tamil Nadu's bowling threatened only when the conditions were conducive for the seamers in the morning. Once the clouds gave way to clear skies, as was the case for most of the day, Saurashtra took control over the hosts' limited spin attack, wearing them down with an attacking approach. Even the seamers were rendered ineffective with the older ball.

Read the full report here.