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Group A

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It was a significant day for Pankaj Dharmani as he crossed the 7000-run mark in the Ranji Trophy.•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Tamil Nadu dictated terms on the second day in Ahmedabad with a strong batting performance, led by half-centuries by M Vijay and Arun Karthik. Tamil Nadu ended the day 145 adrift of Gujarat’s 343, but lost only two wickets, with Vijay going strong with an unbeaten 91. Earlier, Aushik Srinivas and L Balaji took four wickets each to keep Gujarat from piling on a massive score. Resuming on 275 for 5, the overnight pair of Parthiv Patel and Timil Patel progressed steadily to 316 before a lower order collapse gave Tamil Nadu the initiative. Srinivas and Balaji bowled well in tandem as Gujarat lost their last five wickets for 27 runs. Parthiv went on to score 166. Tamil Nadu got off to a bad start when they lost S Anirudha for a duck in the second over but it was smooth sailing from there on as Vijay and Karthik played positively. Karthik progressed at more than a run a ball at one stage and looked set to score a century but was stumped on 87 off Niraj Patel. Vijay, who was named in the Indian Test squad against Sri Lanka, was particularly strong against the spinners and his innings included nine fours and a six. With this start, Tamil Nadu look well placed to take a first-innings lead.
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Punjab’s seam trio of Harmeet Singh, Luv Ablish and Manpreet Gony combined to bowl out Hyderabad for 193 and secure a first-innings lead of 28 against Hyderabad in Mohali. Harmeet and Ablish’s early strikes had Hyderabad tottering at 54 for 5, and there was further trouble for the visitors when they lost the experienced VVS Laxman for 26. The score at that stage read 89 for 7, but a fighting unbeaten 73 by Syed Quadri helped Hyderabad fight back. Quadri added 52 with MP Arjun and 47 with Ashwin Yadav. Gony took three lower order wickets to bowl Hyderabad out before they could get closer to his team’s total of 221. The Punjab top order however faltered in the second innings and ended the day with an overall lead of 87. Mohammed Khader, the left-arm seamer, got rid of the openers. Pankaj Dharmani was unbeaten at stumps on 10, but it was a significant day for his career as he crossed the 7000-run mark in the Ranji Trophy.
ScorecardSanjib Sanyal led Railways’ lower order effort with 92 to post a strong 419 against Himachal Pradesh at the Karnail Singh Stadium. Sarandeep Singh, the offspinner, was rewarded with seven wickets after sending down close to 57 overs. Railways lost Yere Goud early for 58 but that’s when Sanyal came in and took control, supported by Akshay Girap and Karan Sharma. Sanyal hit eight fours and a six before he was the eighth wicket to fall, caught behind off Sarandeep. The Himachal openers began cautiously, adding 34 in 20 overs before stumpsHeavy showers ensured no play was possible for the second consecutive day between Mumbai and Orissa at the Brabourne Stadium.Group B

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Rahul Dravid led the way for Karnataka with a half-century to secure a first-innings lead of 106 against Delhi at the Roshanara Club Ground. Delhi only managed 154 on the opening day so it was a question of how long Karnataka could extend their lead. Dravid was the cornerstone of Karnataka’s effort with 78, an innings which included 11 fours. The lower order then continued to frustrate Delhi, with the last-wicket pair of Abhimanyu Mithun and S Aravind adding 47. The seam-bowling pair of Sumit Narwal and Pawan Suyal took four wickets apiece. The Delhi batsmen put in a much better effort in their second innings, ending the day with a deficit of 13.
ScorecardSaurashtra’s Rakesh Dhurv and Sandeep Jobanputra took nine wickets between them but Uttar Pradesh held the upper hand in Rajkot as they posted 395 and halted Saurashtra’s effort with three wickets. Parvinder Singh added only two to his overnight score when he was dismissed by Jobanputra. The lower order then put together partnerships to frustrate the home side. Dhurv, the left-arm spinner, took his fifth five-wicket haul. Saurashtra didn’t get off to the best of starts, losing three wickets for 59, but Pratik Mehta and Shitanshu Kotak steadied the innings with a stand of 66.
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A decent effort by Baroda’s lower order – led by Pinal Shah – lifted the score to 307 against Bengal at the Eden Gardens. Shah hit 63 and he was supported by Swapnil Singh, who made an unbeaten 43. Sourav Sarkar, Saurasish Lahiri and Laxmi Ratan Shukla all took three wickets apiece. Bengal were under a bit of pressure when Irfan Pathan struck to leave them at 73 for 3. But Arindam Das held firm till stumps with an unbeaten 52, with Sourav Ganguly on 15 for company.

ScorecardTim Macdonald picked up 3 for 65•Getty Images

Tasmania held on for first-innings points despite a late flurry from South Australia’s Chris Duval on the third day at Bellerive Oval. On a day cut short by bad light, the Redbacks fell 26 runs short of Tasmania’s total and with rain expected on the final day, they would need a miracle to have any hope of victory.However, South Australia had not yet given up hope with Peter George grabbing a pair of early wickets to take his match tally to ten. At stumps, Tasmania were wobbling at 3 for 39 with George Bailey on 8 and Daniel Marsh on 2.The Tigers were fortunate to escape with a first-innings advantage after Cameron Borgas posted 78 in the middle order to take the Redbacks to within 87 runs of their target. When he departed, caught behind as one of three wickets for Tim Macdonald, it left South Australia with little apparent hope.But Duval wasn’t about to give up and he crunched his second first-class half-century, striking three fours and three sixes in his 53 before he was caught off Jason Krejza. Duval was one of three victims for Krejza.

Group A

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Abu Nechim took his second five-for of the match, finishing with career-best figures of 10 for 83, as Tripura was dismissed for 172 during the follow-on, giving Assam victory by an innings and 55 runs in three days. Tripura began the day on 35 for 3, trailing by 192 runs. Kaushik Aphale and Nishit Shetty steered them to 90 but both batsmen were dismissed by Sairaj Bahutule and Arlen Konwar in quick time. Nechim then began dismantling the lower-order, taking four of the last five wickets to fall to finish with 5 for 43 off 23.2 overs. The victory catapulted Assam from sixth to the top of the Plate League.
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Goa’s bowlers backed up a terrific performance from their batsmen by chipping away at the Jharkhand batting line-up and were a wicket away from giving their captain the option of enforcing the follow-on. Jharkhand, resuming on 34 for 1 on the third morning, had only two major contributors. Opener Sachin Prasad scored a century, his maiden first-class hundred, and captain Saurabh Tiwary made 60 but no one else passed 20. Shadab Jakati was the best bowler, taking 3 for 53 in 27 overs, while Saurabh Bandekar and Kshemal Waingankar took two apiece.
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There’s an absorbing tussle going on in Jaipur. Vidarbha, having limited Rajasthan to only a six-run first-innings lead, were in turn reduced to 158 for 5, with an overall advantage of only 152. Rajasthan began the third day on 166 for 5, trailing by 72 runs, but their lower-order batsmen failed to string together partnerships. Akshay Wakhare sliced through the batting, taking the last four wickets to finish with career-best figures of 6 for 56, and Rajasthan were dismissed for 244. Vidarbha, in their second innings, made a solid start with the openers adding 61. However, after Amit Paunikar fell for 23, Vidarbha lost wickets regularly to slip to 118 for 5 before Akshay Kohlar, who was unbeaten on 61, steered them safely to the close of play. Pankaj Singh and Madur Khatri took two wickets each for Rajasthan.

Group B

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Madhya Pradesh were three wickets away from completing an innings victory against Jammu and Kashmir at the end of the third day in Indore. MP resumed their first innings on 440 for 7 in the morning and Devendra Bundela reached his 150. They were eventually dismissed for 519, with a lead of 348, and Abid Nabi was J&K’s best bowler, having taken 5 for 148. J&K struggled in their second innings, losing two wickets with the score on 15. Captain Vinayak Mane and Hiken Shah revived the innings, steering them to 114, before both batsmen fell in quick succession. TP Sudhindra took 3 for 42, while Sanjay Pandey and Ankit Sharma took two each, to reduce J&K to 206 for 7 at stumps.
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A rearguard century from No. 10 Joginder Sharma propped Haryana up to 298 in their second innings, setting Andhra a formidable target to win their Ranji Plate fixture in Anantapur. Haryana were in trouble in their second innings, resuming on 107 for 5, leading by only 139 runs. They soon lost their overnight half-centurion, Rahul Dewan, and were gradually reduced to 184 for 9. Joginder then found support in Sanjay Budhwar, the No. 11 batsman, who hung around for 75 balls and scored 17. Joginder went about doing the bulk of the scoring, hitting 16 fours in his 110 off 178 balls, before he was the last man dismissed. Andhra faced only one ball of the chase before play ended.

At Adelaide on Monday, Chris Gayle became the first captain since Mark Taylor in 1998 to carry his bat through an innings, when his second-innings unbeaten 165, from 285 deliveries, restored much-needed pride in West Indian cricket and offered redemption to an embattled leader.Criticism was flung from all corners at Gayle following his pair of casual dismissals and his side’s capitulation in the first Test at the Gabba. Yet this magnificent response in Adelaide was enough to silence dissenting voices and earn the acclaim of the former West Indian captain Courtney Walsh.Walsh grew up watching a united and gifted West Indies side dominate world cricket. When he made his debut in 1984 the islands were littered with talent and had, in Clive Lloyd, a leader who epitomised the pride and self-respect needed to succeed at the highest level. “When I was younger we were a well-disciplined West Indian team,” Walsh told Cricinfo. “We have to bring the team together like that again.”There were many that doubted Gayle’s ability to do that. He had made disparaging remarks about Test cricket when West Indies toured England in May, and had overseen a strike by his players that resulted in a second-string West Indies team losing a series to Bangladesh at home.As the contract dispute was still rumbling on, Darren Ganga had unexpectedly led a young Trinidad and Tobago side to the semi-final of the Champions League Twenty20. A hallmark of his leadership was his ability to instil discipline into his players and many felt he was the credible alternative.Yet it was these precise faculties, so often missing from West Indian cricket recently, that Gayle displayed so admirably in his Adelaide knock and Walsh is confident that Gayle is now the right man to unite the team.”He has made a few mistakes in the past and I think all of us go through a similar period but I think all he wants to do is focus on his cricket now. We need someone who people will follow and someone who can pull the team together and I think he is the best man for the job.”After a Test career spanning 17 years, Walsh has a new priority for the sport. In a programme started by his charity, the Courtney Walsh Foundation, he hopes to take cricket into young-offenders institutions in Jamaica, as part of an initiative to help young people on the road to recovery.”It’s about the discipline of sport,” he said. “We want to give these guys something to do, something to get involved with and something that can take their mind away from the state that got them into trouble in the first place.”A fellow Jamaican looking to return after a difficult period is Marlon Samuels. Earlier this month, Cricinfo revealed Samuels’s plans to resurrect his international career following a two-year suspension. The sentence will be lifted next year and Walsh believes Samuels can come back stronger, perhaps even as inspiration to those he seeks to help.”He was very disappointed to get suspended and we hope that he will come back and, not necessarily walk straight back into the West Indies team, but play for Jamaica and gradually makes his way back to international cricket. He’s a very talented cricketer.”To build on the encouraging signs of the second Test, the West Indies need to rediscover the flair and passion that was once so prevalent in the Test side. They could seek inspiration from Gayle’s last innings, or even Walsh’s entire career.

Close South Africa 29 for 0 (Smith 12*, Prince 15*) trail England 180 (Collingwood 47, Steyn 5-51) by 151 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsKevin Pietersen failed once again as England collapsed on the first morning at the Wanderers•Getty Images

England’s hopes of emerging from South Africa with a memorable series win were dealt a devastating blow on an eventful first day at Johannesburg, as Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel combined with ruthless intent on a helpful but not unplayable surface. The pair claimed eight wickets between them, including four inside the first ten overs alone, to bundle England out for a meagre 180 inside two sessions, and take a massive stride towards the victory that would square the series at 1-1.In reply, South Africa’s openers, Graeme Smith and Ashwell Prince, negotiated 12 tricky overs in gloomy evening conditions, reaching 29 for 0 after much of the afternoon session had been wiped out by rain and bad light. Though England’s seamers found prodigious swing to keep the run-rate in check, they were unable to make the incision that could have lifted their spirits after a morale-crushing display in the opening gambits of the match. Nevertheless, the loss of two hours of play, and the promise of similar weather for the rest of the week, could yet provide them a route to salvation.England’s recent visits to the Wanderers have rarely been dull affairs, and this match began in sensational fashion, reminiscent of their 2 for 4 collapse in November 1999, when Andrew Strauss became the first England cricketer since Stan Worthington in 1936 to fall to the very first delivery of a Test match. The ball that got him, from Steyn, was a largely anonymous sighter on leg stump, but Hashim Amla had been cleverly positioned at backward short leg, and reacted in an instant to dive full-length to his right and scoop a brilliant low chance.Strauss had earlier won the toss and batted first with some slight trepidation, recognising the likelihood of a tough first hour in dank conditions against a pumped-up new-ball pairing. Without his rock-solid temperament to guide their approach, England’s middle-order faltered disastrously, much as they had done in their hapless meltdown at Headingley in the summer. Within ten overs they had slumped to 39 for 4, and though Paul Collingwood and Ian Bell provided a mini-revival with a fifth-wicket stand of 76, Steyn returned after lunch to mop up the tail for the richly-deserved figures of 5 for 51.Prior to the match, England had spoken strongly of taking a positive mindset into a match that they need only draw to claim the series, but when they were put on the spot, the top-order suffered from a collective freeze. Jonathan Trott produced his nerviest and least convincing Test innings to date, inside-edging his fourth delivery, from Morkel, inches past his leg stump before being pinned plumb lbw for 5 in the same over, which brought Kevin Pietersen to the middle, under pressure following one of the leanest spells of his career, and habitually anxious to get off the mark.Pietersen could have run-out his partner, Alastair Cook, before he had scored, and though he settled his nerves with a sweet clip through midwicket off Morkel, he fell meekly in the same over, wellying a muffed pull to Wayne Parnell, one of South Africa’s two debutants, at mid-on. Cook meanwhile looked as composed as anyone in the situation. He survived a tough chance on 4 when Amla at short leg couldn’t cling onto a firm push off the pads, but had moved calmly along to 21 when Morkel struck for the third time in his spell – a full-length delivery that zipped from a leg-stump line to trap Cook on the crease. The decision went to review, and though there was some suspicion of a no-ball, umpire Daryl Harper rightly upheld the onfield decision.And so, at 39 for 4, it was down to the guts and grit of Collingwood and Bell once again. Of the two, it was Collingwood who set the tempo in an innings of significantly greater aggression to his stonewalling performance at Newlands. With attacking fields in place, there were plenty runs on offer for his favourite clips and nudges, as well as his trademark one-day pull shot, with which he picked off two sixes, including one, off Jacques Kallis, from the very last ball of the morning session.By lunch, Collingwood was 44 not out from 55 balls, which was four more runs than he had managed in 133 more deliveries in his previous Test innings. But after the break, he added just three more to that tally, before Ryan McLaren – a surprise selection ahead of Paul Harris – found his leading edge with a sharp seamer that ducked from leg to off, and JP Duminy scooped a lobbed catch as he leant forward at point. The major threat at this stage, however, was Morkel, who was extracting some fearsome lift from a good length, and on 34, Bell might have gone to an outstanding one-handed take in the gully, only for Prince to spill the chance as he crashed to earth.It wasn’t a costly miss, though. With England firmly under the cosh, Bell was prised from the crease one run later, courtesy of an exceptional piece of bowling from Steyn, who set him up with a succession of sharp outswingers, before flipping the shiny side and zipping an perfectly pitched inducker through his half-formed defences. Matt Prior attempted a counterattack, pulling Steyn in front of square for an aggressive boundary, but then nicked a similar shot through to Boucher four overs later.At 136 for 7, the innings was once again in freefall, and Stuart Broad opted to go down swinging. He scythed Kallis for a brace of hoicked fours through the covers and midwicket, but then over-extended himself in the same over and flapped a tame swat to mid-off. The recalled Ryan Sidebottom never had a chance to get going, seeing out five dot-balls before snicking his sixth, from Steyn, to the keeper, and once again it was left to the unquenchably optimistic Graeme Swann to slap a merry run-a-ball 27, and provide the scorecard with some sheen of respectability.Fittingly though, it was Steyn who snared him, via another thin edge to the keeper, as England were rolled over inside 48 overs. They’ve clung on twice in desperate scenarios so far in this series, but getting out of this predicament will test their Houdini impersonations to the max.

ScorecardAlex Blackwell took a strong catch to remove Sara McGlashan before steering her side’s successful chase•Getty Images

The captain Alex Blackwell followed her half-century in the opening game with an important 34 as Australia gained a 2-0 advantage over New Zealand on a disrupted day in Adelaide. Australia began chasing New Zealand’s subdued 142 but their assignment was cut to 110 from 32 overs by rain.The hosts resumed at 1 for 34 after the break, having lost Rachael Haynes a ball before the weather intervened, and Blackwell and Shelley Nitschke moved comfortably towards victory. However, there were some nervous moments during a mini-collapse, with Nitschke exiting for 38 and Amy Satterthwaite removing Sarah Elliott and Lisa Sthalekar in consecutive balls.Blackwell helped her side away from the discomfort of 4 for 79 and departed an over before the end when lbw to Sophie Devine. Alyssa Healy gave Satterthwaite a third wicket as the drizzle returned and the game was ended next ball with five wides. The teams head to Melbourne to conclude the five-match series and Australia can wrap up the trophy with another win on Sunday.New Zealand suffered regular losses after winning the toss and lasted only 37.3 overs in their second disappointing batting display following the 115-run defeat on Wednesday. Victoria Lind top scored with 33 from No. 3 but the wicketkeeper Katey Martin was the only other one to pass 20.Sarah Andrews started well by removing both openers in the first six overs while Ellyse Perry finished off the innings with two wickets at the end. The spinners Sthalekar and Nitschke also made life hard and had two victims each, with Nitschke giving away only a run an over in seven overs.