Ranji Trophy: Gopal helps Karnataka take 222-run lead against Mumbai

Karnataka put up a solid batting display to take a massive 222-run lead against Mumbai on the second day of the Ranji Trophy quarter-final here on Friday.

Shreyas Gopal (80 not out) and wicketkeeper-batsman CM Gautam (79 off 111; 4x12, 1x6) starred for the Vinay Kumar-led side after opener Mayank Agarwal cracked 78 to post posted 395/6 at close of play.

Vinay Kumar -- who returned figures of 6/34 which included a hattrick -- was batting on 31 at stumps.

Mumbai were skittled out for just 173 in the first innings. For hapless Mumbai, Shivam Dube was the only shining light, taking five wickets.

In another match, Bengal bowlers showed discipline to keep defending champions Gujarat on the backfoot after posting 354 in the first innings riding Abhimanyu Easwaran's 129.

Medium-pacer B. Amit was the pick of the bowlers, returning figures of 3/46. At stumps on Day Two, Gujarat were trailing by 174 runs, posting 180/6, with Piyush Chawla (batting 22) and Rujul Bhatt (batting 13) at the crease.

In Surat, A late charge from the lower order and early wickets from the new-ball pair of Lalit Yadav and Rajneesh Gurbani propelled Vidarbha to make a comeback after being reduced to 95/6 at one stage. wicketkeeper-batsman Akshay Wadkar, who was playing

Akshay Wadkar struck a maiden fifty, and stitched a 74 run stand for the seventh wicket with Aditya Sarwate (36) to push Vidarbha's total to 246.

At stumps, Kerala were batting on 32/2 with Jalaj Saxena (13 not out) and Rohan Prem (5 not out) at the crease.

Elsewhere, Harpreet Singh Bhatia scored an unbeaten 107 to help Madhya Pradesh post a challenging 338. At stumps, Delhi were batting on 180/2, trailing by 158 runs.

At the crease were, Kunal Chandela (73 not out) and Nitish Rana (17 not out). Dhruv Shorey played well for his 73.

--IANS

dm/gau/vm