Meghalaya, Uttarakhand in command

Meghalaya put up a spirited bowling show to tighten their grip over Nagaland in their Ranji Trophy Plate group match here Wednesday.

Resuming on 338/5, Meghalaya managed to add just 51 runs this morning as Nagaland left-arm pacer Pawan Suyal returned with 5/96.

In reply, Meghalaya trio of Gurinder Singh (4/37), Aditya Singhania (3/12) and Lakhan Singh (3/23) shot out Nagaland for a paltry 106 runs in 46.3 overs before enforcing follow-on.

At close, Nagaland were 31 for no loss in their second innings, trailing Meghalaya by 252 runs.

Playing at their adopted home venue in Bhubaneshwar, Sikkim found themselves on the backfoot to be on 49/3 in reply to Uttarakhand's huge 582/9 declared.

It was a tale of two youngsters as Saurabh Rawat (220) and Vaibhav Bhatt (152 not out) smashed their career-best scores to put Uttarakhand in command in the top of the table clash.

The 20-year-old Rawat hit 14 boundaries and six sixes in his knock from 381 balls in their 231-run fifth wicket partnership with Bhatt.

Playing his second first class match, 22-year-old Bhatt played a perfect fiddle as Sikkim bowlers had a tough outing. Bhatt's unbeaten knock came from 275 balls and included 13 fours.

Uttarakhand skipper Rajat Bhatia claimed two wickets in an over as Sikkim ended the day with 533 runs in arrears.

It was a washout for the second successive day in Puducherry. Bihar won the toss and opted to field against the home team, but no play could be possible due to heavy rain.

Brief Scores
In Bhubaneshwar: Uttarakhand 582/9 declared; 163 overs (Saurabh Rawat 220, Vaibhav Bhatt 152 not out, Rajat Bhatia 121; Ishwar Chaudhary 4/105). Sikkim 49/3; 20 overs (Nilesh Lamichaney 23 batting, Milind Kumar 12 batting; Bhatia 2/2)