Defending champions Delhi knocked out

Delhi 505 for 5 (Chopra 210, Dhawan 118, Kohli 83) lead Rajasthan 295 by 210 runs
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Delhi dominated proceedings at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium, but the defending champions will perhaps regret losing four wickets after going past the 400-mark with one batsman out. Even if Delhi win this game by an innings or ten wickets - gaining six points to catch up with Saurashtra and equalling them on three wins - they do not stand a chance to match them on the quotient - the runs per wicket scored by a team divided by the runs per wicket conceded.

Resuming on 117 for 0, Delhi's openers were only separated after they had piled on 280. Shikhar Dhawan fell for 118, but Virat Kohli continued the run-fest along with Aakash Chopra, who went on to score a double-century. The two took the score past 400, but Kohli failed to go on to a hundred. His dismissal triggered a collapse - given the run-scoring before it - with four wickets falling in the space of 49 runs. Rajat Bhatia and Yogesh Nagar took Delhi past 500 before stumps.

Chopra, despite the double ton, was disappointed with missing out on a quarter-final berth. "We are disappointed as we could not make the quarterfinals. Matches against Mumbai, Gujarat and Hyderabad hurt us," he told the Hindu.

Vijay Dahiya, the Delhi coach, however, backed his players and wanted them to maintain the focus for this match. "It's difficult to remain motivated after knowing that we are not reaching the quarters," he said. "Still we would try for a win."

Saurashtra 133 (Jogiyani 38, Ashwin Yadav 3-19, Shanker 3-28) and 183 (Pathak 33, RA Jadeja 31, Shinde 4-13, Teja 3-33) beat Hyderabad 140 (Teja 35, Quadri 32, BN Jadeja 6-29, RA Jadeja 3-57 and 71 (RA Jadeja 7-31, Dhurv 3-20) by 105 runs
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Saurashtra have booked their place in the quarter-finals after beating Hyderabad by 105 runs at the Madhavrao Scindia Cricket Ground in Rajkot. Chasing 177, Hyderabad folded for 71. Ravindra Jadeja and Rakesh Dhurv, who shared the two wickets on the third evening, wrapped up the game before lunch. Jadeja took 7 for 31, his career-best figures, and also completed his first ten-wicket haul in first-class matches. Dhurv ended the innings with 3 for 20 off his nine overs. Saurashtra, who began the round with a one-point lead over Delhi, have a mathematical chance of being upstaged; however, it is virtually impossible the mathematical will become a realistic chance.

Gujarat 382 for 8 (PA Patel 206, Panchal 59, TK Patel 38*) lead Orissa 162 by 220 runs
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Saurashtra's win sees them level with Gujarat on 23 points in Group A, but Gujarat are a safe bet to gain three first-innings points from their match against Orissa in Bhubaneshwar and finish second in the standings. The visitors batted out a second successive day, and only a miraculous turnaround will see them lose this game, and the three points in hand. If the improbable does indeed happen, the calculators might be out again if Delhi take six points against Rajasthan.

Parthiv Patel converted his overnight century to a double on a day that saw Gujarat crawl at a run-rate of 1.91 in their 90 overs - the innings rate was 2.09. They closed the day at 382 for 8, a lead of 230 on Orissa's first-innings 162. While Parthiv went at just less than a run every second ball, Timil Patel made an unbeaten 38 off 148 balls.

Parthiv was pleased with his own performance but also singled out Orissa bowler B Panda for praise. "He was the most impressive of Orissa's bowlers today," Parthiv told the Times of India.

Tamil Nadu 475 for 6 dec and 33 for 0 (AB Karthik 27*) lead Railways 314 (Goud 97, Cheluvaraj 65, Mahesh 4-90) by 194 runs
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Tamil Nadu opted not to make Railways to follow on after they gained a 161-run first-innings lead in Chennai. Yere Goud, overnight on 12, led the fight for the visitors with his 97, but no other batsman went past 50 on the day as Railways were dismissed for 314. Yo Mahesh, playing in place of L Balaji, took 4 for 90, including the wicket of V Cheluvaraj, who could only manage to add 15 to his maiden first-class half-century.

Yo Mahesh sent down an astounding 21 no-balls in his 27.5 overs, and the 39 extras were the best contributor for Railways after Goud and Cheluvaraj. Three other batsmen made it to the 30s, but failed to go on to make substantial contributions. Tamil Nadu's openers scored briskly in the six overs till stumps.

Baroda 400 (Parab 130, Bilakhia 73, Shah 72, Solanki 64, TA Rao 5-66, Suresh 3-98) beat Andhra 77 (IK Pathan 7-35) and 263 ( Kiran 65*, Suresh 54, YK Pathan 4-72) by an innings and 60 runs
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Andhra put up a much better effort in their second innings - they were shot out for 77 in the first - but it still was not enough to make Baroda bat a second time in Vadodara. The six points, though, won't help Baroda make it to the quarter-finals.

Andhra's top order progressed slowly on the third day. M Suresh, batting at No. 3, and B Sumanth put on 73 for the third wicket. Suresh reached his fifth first-class half-century, but fell with Andhra's score on 123. Hopes of wiping out the first-innings deficit were almost over when they slipped from 160 for 3 to 171 for 6, but D Prabhu Kiran and debutant TA Rao provided stiff resistance. Rao made 28 off 54 balls, but Yusuf Pathan, who took four in the innings, ended the 68-run stand. He took a wicket next ball, and Kiran put on 24 in 2.2 overs for the ninth wicket - effectively the last as AG Pradeep was injured - along with DP Vijaykumar. Kiran, playing his second game, hit five fours and three sixes in a run-a-ball 65, his maiden half-century.

Karnataka 252 (Gautam 108, Fallah 4-47, Agharkar 3-87) and 229 (Akhil 62, Agharkar 4-56, Haque 3-67, Gaekwad 3-65) beat Maharashtra 210 (Khadiwale 70, Appanna 4-40, Joshi 4-62) and 116 (Joshi 7-29) by 155 runs
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Karnataka, led by Sunil Joshi, breezed into the quarter-finals, overwhelming Maharashtra by 155 runs on a spinners' paradise at the RSI Ground in Bangalore. Joshi marked his 100th Ranji Trophy game with his fifth ten-wicket haul to bowl out Maharashtra for 116 in their second innings. (Read the full report.)

Punjab 202 & 363 for 8 (Kaul 117*, Kakkar 58, Sohal 51, Verma 2-30) lead Mumbai 436 for 9 dec by 129 runs
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Uday Kaul's vigilant century helped Punjab bounce back and frustrated Mumbai, who probably expected a favourable result at the start of the penultimate day at the Brabourne Stadium. When bad light stopped play four overs before stumps, Kaul was unbeaten on a chanceless 117. His 107-run partnership for the fifth wicket with Ankur Kakkar had helped the visitors take a 129-run lead. (Read the full report.)