Jadeja's Heroic All-Round Performance Leads Saurashtra to Victory Over Delhi in Just Two Days

Ravindra Jadeja's own individual bowling masterpiece led Saurashtra to a crushing victory over Delhi within two days of play at Rajkot. Jadeja had put up five wickets on the first day itself, but this time around, he won it through for his side with 12 wickets. Saurashtra, who were trailing by 25 runs at the end of Day 1, erased the deficit pretty quickly and were able to build a massive 83-run lead when they were bowled out for 271 in their second innings. Jadeja then carried on his destructive form, and it helped in getting Delhi bowled out for just 94 in their second innings. The lone bright spot for Delhi was Ayush Badoni, who chipped in with 44 runs. Jadeja's all-round performance in the match, taking 7 wickets also sealed the match for Saurashtra.

Bad day at the Chinnaswamy Stadium for Punjab as Karnataka batted first in a one-sided affair through Smaran Ravichandran. Starting the day on 199/4, Ravichandran continued his onslaught as he smashed a magnificent double hundred. While others were contributing, no one could better the brilliance of Ravichandran: Karnataka finally managed to finish their first innings with a towering score of 475, thereby holding an overwhelming command of 420 runs. Punjab was now stumped at 24/2 by stumps on the second day.

Mumbai stunned Jammu and Kashmir on the second day with a hero rescue act at the lower order at Wankhede. J&K had taken a slender lead of 86, but Mumbai's top-order crumbled under pressure, and they were reduced to 101/7. However, Shardul Thakur and Tanush Kotian provided a stunning turnaround, putting on 173 runs in quick time, with Thakur scoring a remarkable century. By stumps, Mumbai had taken a lead of 188, and with these two at the crease, their chances of a turnaround grew stronger.

In Ranchi, Jharkhand were in control against Chhattisgarh thanks to a good top-order platform. Opener Kumar Suraj set the tone with a composed century, while Sharandeep Bhatia and Utkarsh Singh added 69 and 62 runs. The overall first innings score for Jharkhand gave them a 74-run lead over Chhattisgarh by stumps on Day 2. Six wickets were still left in hand at the end of the day's play.

After a rather insipid opening day, Haryana did an excellent recovery against Bengal. With six wickets, Anuj Thakral helped send down Bengal to a subpar total as the first-innings lead in favour of Haryana was of a narrow 33 runs. Consolidating from here, Haryana reached 158/2 at stumps on the third day, raising the lead by 191 runs. With this momentum firmly behind them, they looked all set to push towards a commanding win.

Tamil Nadu's bowlers were on fire as they bowled Chandigarh out for a paltry 204 in their first innings. Ajith Ram and Sai Kishore shared the bulk of the wickets, with the former picking up a five-wicket haul. Chandigarh, who were cruising at 176/2, collapsed dramatically, losing their last eight wickets for just 28 runs. Tamil Nadu took full advantage, extending their lead to 124 runs by the end of Day 2.

In Kerala, Madhya Pradesh turned the tide after a slow start. Having been bowled out for just 160 in their first innings, MP were under pressure when Kerala reached 54/0 on Day 1. However, MP bounced back strongly, with Avesh Khan and Aryan Pandey taking three wickets each. As a result, Kerala’s lead was reduced to just 7 runs. By stumps, Madhya Pradesh had established an upper hand as Rajat Patidar and Shubham Sharma were not out. They enjoyed a lead of 133 runs with eight wickets in hand.

Gujarat took control of their match against Uttarakhand, building a solid first-innings lead. Manan Hingrajia and Jaymeet Patel played vital roles, forming a double-century partnership that frustrated Uttarakhand's bowlers. Gujarat finished with a lead of 278, and Uttarakhand's hopes of a recovery were dashed as they lost four key wickets, still trailing by 204 runs by stumps.

In Nasik, Maharashtra totally dominated over Baroda, in a match marked by a sharp bowling performance, after being bowled out for 297 in the first innings, Maharashtra's bowlers delivered in unison, to bundle out Baroda for 145. However, there was some resistance offered by Mitesh Patel and Mahesh Pithiya; in any case, the position of Baroda had always been precarious. The lead of Maharashtra stood at 275 runs by stumps after an excellent knock of 66 by Ruturaj Gaikwad.

The closely contested match between Rajasthan and Vidarbha went in favor of Rajasthan as the lower-order fightback proved crucial after reaching 265. They sent back Vidarbha's top four batsmen for just 84 runs. At stumps, Rajasthan was holding a narrow 100-run lead and looked the favorites with Vidarbha struggling at 16/4.