Baroda follow on despite mammoth Pathan partnership

Yusuf Pathan's quickfire century, coupled with his 188-run fifth-wicket stand with Irfan Pathan, steadied Baroda after they lost two wickets cheaply on day two in Indore. The duo helped their side to 302 in response to Madhya Pradesh's first-innings 551, but they failed to avert follow-on and were bowled out by the home team inside 79 overs.

Pivoting around Yusuf's 125-ball 111, featuring 13 fours and six sixes, Baroda added 266 to their overnight score of 36 for 2. Playing his first first-class match since November last year, Yusuf, who came in to bat at No. 5 with only 54 on the board, led the major part of the restoration work for his side. En route to his ninth first-class hundred, he shepherded Baroda close to the 250-run mark, partnering with his younger brother at a scoring rate of 4.56.

Irfan, the captain, chipped in with an 80, with more than half his runs coming off boundaries. He struck ten fours and three sixes during his 130-ball knock, before falling to left-arm spinner Ankit Sharma in the 63rd over. Within the space of six balls, Yusuf too was sent back, dismissed by Avesh Khan.

Soaeb Tai's unbeaten 34 at No. 8 carried Baroda past 300, as each of the six MP bowlers, barring Puneet Datey and Harpreet Singh, bagged two wickets apiece.

Avesh dealt the opposition an early blow in their second innings, bowling Aditya Waghmode for 31 in the last ball of the day, with Baroda trailing MP by 208 at stumps.

B Sumanth converted his overnight 72 into a sixth first-class century to hand Andhra a 133-run first-innings lead, before Tamil Nadu captain Abhinav Mukund struck an unbeaten fifty to counter the loss of two wickets in their second innings in Chennai.

Despite a four-for from R Ashwin and a combined five-wicket haul from the Vignesh duo - K and L - Sumanth persevered until the 124th over through his 280-ball 109, adding 90 for the eighth wicket with No. 8 batsman Shoaib Md Khan, who dug his heels in with a 145-ball 43 on first-class debut. Sumanth hit five fours and a six.

In response, Abhinav notched up his 32nd first-class fifty, while his opening partner M Vijay retired hurt on 13, in the 14th over, due to an ankle strain. Following Vijay's departure, left-arm bowlers Yarra Prithvi Raj and Bharghav Bhatt sniped out Kaushik Gandhi (7) and Baba Indrajith (16) with their medium-pace and orthodox spin, respectively. Abhinav, however, held up one end, hitting four fours during his 137-ball knock, and putting on 40 with Indrajith and an unbroken 33 with Aparajith (15*) during the 54 overs of the Tamil Nadu innings before close of play.

Having had the first two days of the fixture washed out, Odisha sent Tripura in to bat on another rain-hit day in Cuttack, where only two overs were possible. Openers Bishal Ghosh and Udiyan Bose remained unbeaten through that time, adding six runs to the scoreboard.