Services sight first innings lead

Riding on a fine 83 by opener Ritesh Jaiswal, Tripura made a spirited reply to the huge first ininings total of Services, reaching 304 for seven on the third day of the Plate 'A' group Ranji Trophy match in Delhi on Thursday.

Jaiswal was associated in a 87-run third wicket stand with Subhash Chander, who made 45.

Tripura had a bad start to the day when they lost Rajeev Dutta when only 15 runs had been scored in the morning. Dutta had made 16. But after that, the visitors, who resumed at the overnight score of 69 for one, progressed nicely to 171, with Jaiswal and Chander batting confidently. But both fell in quick succession.

Jaiswal, who hit nine boundaries in his 282-minute stay at the crease, finally became the third victim of off-spinner Sanjay Dhull, who finished the day with figures of four for 92 from 36 overs. Dhull had earlier dismissed S Dasgupta yesterday and Rajeev Dutta today.

Subhash Chander was trapped leg before by Saeed Javed as Services, who had declared their first innings at 419 for 8, hit back with two big wickets within the space of three runs.

Services claimed wickets at regular intervals after that as the Tripura batsmen failed to capitalise on the starts they got.

Chetan Sachdev (17) and Timir Chanda (27) were dismissed by left-arm spinner Arun Sharma while Dhull accounted for Abdul Sattar (5).

At stumps, Gourpada was batting on 38 while Sujit Roy was on 35.

Saurashtra gain first innings lead

Sourashtra showed fighting qualities to snatch a narrow but vital 12-run first innings lead, as the last-wicket pair took the score from 257 for nine overnight to 312 on the third day of their Ranji Trophy league match against Vidarbha in Nagpur on Thursday.

Sourashtra then conslidated their position by reducing Vidarbha to 148 for eight in the second innings when stumps were drawn.

Resuming at overnight total of 257 for 9, the visitors put up a brave show through their tailenders, Jolly Jobanputra (52) and Firoz Bhambhani (50 not out).

The duo added 86 runs for the tenth wicket and helped their side gain a first innings lead. Saurashtra were all out for 312 off 117.2 overs.

Vidarbha, in their second innings, scored 148 for 8 off 65 overs.

Nitin Gawande (26), Rupesh Shahane (25) and Ulhas Gandhe (27) were the principal run-getters.

Sujith Somasunder hits century

Sujith Somasunder hit a magnificent ton as Kerala reached 245 for four in their second innings on the third day of their Ranji Trophy league match against Goa in Kochi.

Somasunder cracked 106 runs with ten fours and a six and put on 133 runs for the opening wicket with M P Sorab, which laid the foundation for a strong second innings total for Kerala.

Ajay Kuduva was batting on 16 and Sreekumar Nair on 9 when stumps were drawn for the day.

Earlier, resuming at their overnight 195 for 8, Goa managed to take a vital three-run first innings lead before being all out for 215 after 65 minutes of batting today.

In the hosts' second outing, Somasunder delighted the crowd with some fine shots, including a six off medium pacer Sandeep Dahad. He was at the crease for 298 minutes and faced 200 balls. Somasunder also added 54 runs for the third wicket along with captain Sunil Oasis (29).

Overnight not out Goan batsmen Sandeep Dahad (71) and Avinash Aware added 42 runs for the ninth wicket before Avinash departed for six runs which had come off 80 balls.

Sandeep added 14 runs to his overnight individual score before he was clean bowled by medium pacer Sreeshanth for 85 (193 b 5x4, 5x6).

Brief scores:
Kerala 212 and 245 for 4 (Sujit Somasunder 106, M P Sorab 54, Sunil Oasis 29, Sandeep 2/58, Rohit Rane 2/10); Goa 215 (Sagun Kamat 33, Rohit Rane 41, Sandeep Dahad 85, Sureshkumar 5/70, Sreeshanth 3/42).

Mail Cricket Editor