Jadeja hits ton as Saurashtra take lead against Railways

After shinning with the ball, India all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja's unbeaten 178 helped Saurashtra to take first innings lead versus Railways on the second day of their Ranji Elite Group A match here Tuesday.

Courtesy Jadeja's knock, Saurashtra lead Railways by 144 runs after they ended the Day 2 at 344/8.

After electing to bat, Railways were bundled out for a meagre 200 with skipper Mahesh Rawat top-scoring with 46.

For the hosts, Jadeja, a left-arm spinner (4-58), did most of the damage.

And Jadeja did not disappoint with the bat too.

After Saurashtra's top-order failed, left-handed Jadeja took the centre-stage at Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, hitting 16 fours and four sixes in his 326-ball stay at the crease so far.

He hammered a listless Railways attack and completed his 100 off 216 balls and 150 in 285 balls, respectively.

Jadeja found an unusual partner in number 9 Kamlesh Makwana who made 62.

The duo frustrated the Railway bowlers, but Makwana's stay at the crease was cut short by Harsh Tyagi.

Saurashtra's hopes of increasing the lead now solely depend on Jadeja, who will be eyeing a double-hundred.

Brief Scores: At Rajkot: Railways 200 all out versus Saurashtra 344/8 (Ravindra Jadeja 178 batting, Kamlesh Makwana 62, Avinash Yadav 3-95).

Saurashtra lead by 144 runs.

At Vadodara: Baroda 322 all out (Yusuf Pathan 99, Swapnil Singh 79, Satyajeet Bachhav 4-81) versus Maharashtra 253/8 (Naushad Shaikh 65, Chirag Khurana 56, Swapnil Singh 4-73).

Maharashtra trail by 69 runs.

At Valsad: Gujarat 538/7 Declared (Dhruv Raval 116 not out, Manprit Juneja 107, Vishal Kushwah 3-92) versus Chhattisgarh 53/2.

Chhattisgarh trail by 485 runs.

At Nagpur: Vidarbha 307 (Ganesh Satish 57, Srikant Wagh 57, J Suchith 4-33) against Karnataka 208/5 (Dega Nischal 66 batting, Aditya Sarwate 2-44). Karnataka trail by 99 runs.