1. Unadkat rattles Karnataka
Left-arm pacer Jaydev Unadkat, the skipper of Saurashtra, produced an incisive spell in the first hour to reduce Karnataka to 19 for three. His scalps included Mayank Agarwal, KV Siddharth and R Samarth. While Siddharth and Samarth were trapped in front, Agarwal was caught behind by Snell Patel. A few overs later pacer Chetan Sakariya dismissed Karun Nair for 9 as Karnataka found themselves tottering at 30 for 4.
2. Middle-order rescues Karnataka
At 30/4, Karnataka were in danger getting bundled out for a below par score. But the home side stitched together two substantial stands to come out of the jam. First, Manish Pandey (62, 67 balls, 4x4, 3x6) and Shreyas Gopal (87, 182b, 9x4, 1x6) milked 106 runs for the fifth wicket to avoid a collapse. After the dismissal of Pandey, who was castled by Unadkat, Shreyas and wicketkeeper batsman S Sharath (74 n.o., 177b, 11x4) 104 runs for the sixth wicket as Karnataka reached a reasonable 232 for five. Kamlesh Makwana struck when Shreyas was looking good for a hundred, disturbing his furniture. Thereafter Karnataka lost a few quick wickets quickly as Saurashtra maintained their grip.
3. Umesh Yadav destroys Kerala
Umesh, whose last outing for India at Perth was underwhelming let out the steam against a hapless Kerala, ripping the first-time Ranji Trophy semifinalists with a seven-wicket haul. Kerala were bowled out for 106 on conditions that suited bowlers more. Kerala batsmen were not picture any time as they failed to build even one good partnership.
4. Vidarbha batsmen to the fore
Skipper Faiz Fazal (75, 142b, 13x4) led Vidarbha's reply from the front with a solid knock and he received ample support from veteran Wasim Jaffer, who completed 1000 runs in Ranji Trophy this season. Fazal and Jaffer made 80 runs for the second wicket and then made 57 for the third wicket with Atharva Taide as the visitors reached 17 for two. But the dismissal of Fazal, effected by Sandeep Warrier, triggered a mini collapse as night-watchman Rajaneesh Gurbani and Taide were dismissed in quick succession for adding just one runs. But despite those late blows Vidarbha hold a first innings lead of 65 runs and they have a good chance on the morrow to extend it further.