Panchal leads Guj’s fightback

Ahmedabad: Opener Priyank Panchal led from the front with an unbeaten half-century as Gujarat gave a strong reply to Chandigarh's 304 in their Ranji Trophy Group D match here on Wednesday. Panchal was batting on 87 in company with wicketkeeper-batter Het Patel (37) in an unbroken 53-run stand as Gujarat were 249 for three at stumps on day two, trailing Chandigarh by 55 runs. Panchal was also involved in two key partnerships; first with Kathan Patel (47), and then Priyesh Patel (62) to take the team forward.Earlier, Chandigarh managed to add 57 runs to their overnight total before being dismissed for 304 in 116 overs. Lather, who was unbeaten on 68, was dismissed 13 runs short of a century, becoming Hardik Patel's third victim (3/39). Shen Patel claimed four for 85, while Sidharth Desai took two for 74.In reply, Gujarat put on an opening stand of 76 with Panchal and Patel before the latter fell short of his half-century after being dismissed by Lather. Having shone with the bat, Lather was also the pick of the bowlers for Chandigarh and took all the three wickets to fall. Dharmendrasinh Jadeja and Yuvrajsinh Chudasama took four wickets each as Saurashtra restricted Mumbai’s first innings to 230 and secured a 59-run first-innings lead. Mumbai resumed their first innings on overnight score of 36 for two and first Suryakumar Yadav (95) and later Sarfaraz Khan (75) batted brilliantly. But from 206 for four, Mumbai collapsed and were all out for 230.Saurashtra too struggled in their second innings and were 77 for six at one point before Prerak Mankad (25 not out) and Dharmendrasinh Jadeja (24 not out) added 43 valuable runs for the unbeaten seventh-wicket partnership.Saurashtra are now 179 runs ahead with four wickets in hand and the match looks poised for a tight finish.