Gujarat leaves Assam in dire straits

Ahmedabad, Nov 5 (UNI) Boosted by two centuries -- an unbeaten 151 runs by opener Nilesh Modi and 124 by Niraj Patel, hosts Gujarat has set a formidable target of 407 runs for victory before Assam who were left tottering at 15 runs for the loss of two wickets in their second essay on the third day of the four-day Ranji Trophy plate division match at the Sardar Patel Gujarat stadium at Motera here.

Earlier, Gujarat declared the second innings at 367 runs for four wickets, and already has a 39-run first innings lead.

Assam began their second essay on a dismal note with both openers, S Bhagawati (4) and S Das (1), getting out cheaply with the team total at 15. When stumps were drawn for the day, N H Bordoloi (7) and Rajdeep Das (0) were at the crease.

Earlier, the overnight unbeaten Gujarat pair of captain and test discard Parthiv Patel and Nilesh Modi began their batting this morning at a fast pace.

However, when the team total was 118, Parthiv was caught by Rajdeep off the bowling of Suresh on an individual score of 62.

Parthiv had four hits to rope and faced 132 balls for his 62 runs.

Incoming batsman Niraj carried on the good work with Nilesh and the two shared a mammoth third-wicket partnership of 215 runs.

With the Gujarat total reading 333, Niraj made his exit after Tarjinder Singh caught him off the bowling of Goswami for a personal contribution of 124 runs. Niraj faced 237 balls and had as many as 15 boundaries and two sixes.

As soon as Nilesh crossed 150 runs, which was studded with 16 hits to the rope, Gujarat captain Parthiv called his boys back to the pavilion with the score reading 367 runs for the loss of four wickets.

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