* Bombay huff and puff their way to a slender lead

The match between West Zone heavy-weights Mumbai and Maharashtra was interestingly poised at the end of day two at the Middle Income Group Ground in Bandra in Mumbai. A five-wicket haul by Maharashtra's left- arm fast bowler Iqbal Siddiqui saw Mumbai struggle to 220 for eight, a lead of just two runs.

Amol Muzumudar who made 54 and Sairaj Bahatule with 32 were the top two scorers for the home side. The wafer-thin lead though means that Mumbai still have a fight on their hands on the last two days.

* Baroda need 163 to win

Baroda, with eight second wickets in hand, require another 163 runs on the final day to win their Ranji Trophy tie against Gujarat.

On Friday, Gujarat, who resumed their second innings at 26 for one, were bowled out for 211. Tejas Varmani and Kirat Damani engineered their side's recovery after coming together when the scoreboard read 59 for six. Their 103-run partnership meant that Gujarat set Baroda the task of scoring the highest total in a low-scoring match. For Baroda, Irfan Pathan and Shekhar Joshi claimed three wickets each.

The defending Ranji champions, who lost both their openers, reached 72 for two at stumps. Importantly for them, their first-innings top- scorer Nayan Mongia was still at the crease. Atul Bedade on nine was keeping him company.

* Vidarbha secure first-innings lead

The famous Green Park ground at Kanpur saw Vidarbha claim the important first-innings lead against Uttar Pradesh on the second day of their match on Friday.

It was a coup of sorts for a visiting side up against a home side that had stars like Mohammad Kaif, his elder brother Mohammad Saif and Jyoti Yadav. The man who made a major contribution towards helping Vidarbha reach 227 for six at stumps, a lead of 17, was 26-year-old Paresh Sutan who made a patient 71. Shailesh Harbade who made 44 and Samir Khare who made 31 were the other men among the runs. For UP, fast bowler, Ashish Winston Zaidi, a former India prospect, and left- arm spinner Gyanendra Pandey claimed two wickets each.

* Railways on top despite Pandey's career-best figures

Railways, who resumed on their overnight score of 381 for four against Madhya Pradesh on day two, lost their last six wickets for the addition of just 115 runs.

Right-arm medium-pacer Sanjay Pandey, was the wrecker-in-chief, returning career-best figures of 8-132. Tejinder Pal Singh, the Railways top-scorer with a career-best 186, was his first scalp on a day that saw Pandey claim five wickets.

Openers Devendrasingh Bundela and Chandra Prakash Sahu, by putting on 90, ensured that Madhya Pradesh made a sound start but three quick wickets including the all-important one of Amay Khurasiya meant that Railways were well on their way towards securing a healthy first- innings lead.

*Karnataka make a strong reply

Karnatake made a strong reply to Hyderabad's 577 on day three of the South Zone Ranji match between the two sides, being played at the Gymkhana Ground, Secunderabad. When stumps were drawn on Friday, the visitors were 267 for three with star batsman Vijay Bhardwaj batting on a patient 63. Keeping him company was wicket-keeper Thilak Naidu who was on 44.

The pair have already put on 80 and Karnataka will be pinnning their hopes on them when play resumes on the final day on Saturday. Naidu, rated by many to be the finest wicket-keeper batsman in the country, did his reputation no harm while finding the boundary on seven occasions in his 89-ball knock.

With just a day's play left a draw is inevitable. Karnataka probably can only hope to share the honours with the home side.

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