An unbeaten fifty by Mohammed Saif gave Railways a glimmer of hope as they reached 209 for 8 in the second innings against Karnataka on the second day of their Elite Group C Ranji Trophy match in Surat on Saturday. (More Cricket News)
The effort helped them earn a handy 190-run lead despite conceding 19-run first innings lead to their opponents.
But this could prove a tricky chase for Karnataka on Day 3 as they are without their best batter and captain Mayank Agarwal for this match.
Karnataka were earlier bowled out for 174 in their first dig as two left-arm spinners Akash Pandey (5/63) and Ayan Chaudhari (4/39) shared the spoils.
The well-oiled bowling unit of Karnataka did not give too many comfort moments for Railways in their second innings as they kept chipping away with regular wickets.
The first hint of Railways’ fightback came when skipper Pratham Singh (33) and Saif (51 batting) added 69 runs for the second wicket to rescue their side from a shaky 13 for two.
After the departure of Pratham, snaffled by pacer Vysakh Vijaykumar, Saif made a further 44 runs for the fourth wicket with Sahab Yuvraj Singh (28).
Saif played a support hand as Suraj Ahuja cracked a 68-ball 48 as Railways headed towards a substantial lead.
Pacer Vysakh was the pick of Karnataka bowlers with a three-wicket haul (3/45).
ALSO READ: Group C, Day 1 Report
Earlier, resuming from their overnight 90 for six, Karnataka amassed 174 in their first innings as the late order batters offered some resistance.
Wicketkeeper batter Sharath Srinivas (24) and Vysakh (24) milked 32 runs for the seventh wicket as Karnataka inched closer to Railways’ first innings total of 155 which they eventually overhauled for a slender lead.
Brief scores: At Surat: Railways: 155 all out & 2nd innings: 209 for 8 in 62 overs (Mohammed Saif 51 batting, Suraj Ahuja 48; Vysakh Vijaykumar 3/45, Vidwath Kaverappa 2/35) vs Karnataka (1st innings): 174 all out in 50.5 overs (S. Sharath 24, Vysakh Vijaykumar 24; Akash Pandey 5/63, Ayan Chaudhari 4/39).
At Mohali: Punjab (1st Innings): 477 for 2 in 107 overs (Anmol Preet Singh 202 batting, Prabhsimran Singh 171 batting) vs Chandigarh.
At Ahmedabad: Tripura: 146 all out & 2nd innings: 330 for 9 in 77 overs (Bikram Kumar Das 82, Manishankar Mura Singh 72, Sankar Paul 50 batting, Sudip Chatterjee 46; SA Desai 6/107) vs Gujarat (1st Innings): 172 all out.
At Porvorim: Goa: 241 all out & 2nd innings: 10 for no loss in 4 overs vs Tamil Nadu (1st innings): 273 all out in 90.2 overs (Narayan Jagadeesan 75, Pradosh Ranjan Paul 71, Vijay Shankar 54; Mohit Redkar 5/70, Darshan Misal 4/77).
