Captain R. Sai Kishore spearheaded Tamil Nadu to a dominant innings victory over Uttarakhand at Chepauk. The left-arm spinner claimed a hat-trick to dismantle the opposition, finishing with match figures of 10 for 74. His teammate, left-arm spinner Ajith Ram, provided essential support by accounting for the remaining four wickets in the second innings.
Assam secured a nine-wicket win against Tripura despite a heroic effort from Tripura skipper Manisankar Murasingh. With his team struggling at 54 for 5, Murasingh struck a sensational 161 off 160 balls to force a fourth innings. However, Mohit Thakur’s five-wicket haul, supplementing his three-fer in the first innings, ultimately ensured Assam’s comfortable victory. Meanwhile, Bengal edged out Services by 60 runs in a contest defined by spin, with Pradipta Pramanik taking 4 for 48 and Shahbaz Ahmed claiming 3 for 44.
In other Elite group action, Ruturaj Gaikwad marked his first appearance of the season with an unbeaten 101 at number seven.
Maharashtra reached a commanding 358-run lead, bolstered by Ankit Bawne’s unbeaten 169. In the same match, Shikhar Mohan remained at the crease on 74 for Jharkhand. Elsewhere, Hyderabad’s K. Himateja scored an unbeaten 123, accompanied by a half-century from Tanay Thyagarajan, to set Andhra a target of 398. Gujarat’s batting was steadied by Manan Hingrajia’s century and Jaymeet Patel’s 72, which blunted the Delhi attack. Allowing Hyderabad to set Andhra a target of 398, k Himateja enhanced a burgeoning reputation with a magnificent unbeaten 123. Keeping the Delhi bowlers at bay, manan Hingrajia’s ton rescued Gujarat in the company of Jaymeet Patel’s 72.
Saurashtra gained a slender first-innings lead against Karnataka after a hard-fought battle. Samar Gajjar’s 79 and Arpit Vasavada’s 65 were pivotal, while a 40-run ninth-wicket partnership between Parth Bhut and Jaydev Unadkat ensured the advantage. Vidwath Kaverappa’s four-wicket haul for Karnataka proved insufficient to flip the momentum. In Mumbai’s encounter with Himachal Pradesh, Akash Anand hit a century and Sarfaraz Khan scored 154, extending Mumbai’s lead to 388. While Sarfaraz Khan’s brilliance ended on 154 as Mumbai multiplied their lead over Himachal Pradesh to 388, akash Anand converted his fifty into a hundred.
Punjab enforced the follow-on against Chhattisgarh after Harpreet Brar produced a career-best 7 for 56. Although Amandeep Khare fought back with 91, he remained unbeaten on 37 in the second innings as the side struggled. In a spin-dominated game, Uttar Pradesh defeated Goa by 68 runs. Despite Yash Kasvankar’s five-wicket haul helping bowl out UP for 197, Goa was undone by Kartik Yadav’s five-wicket performance. Earlier, Aryan Juyal and Suyash Prabhudessai each scored seventies in a losing cause for Goa. But it was bittersweet for the latter as Goa fell well short in pursuit of 235 against Uttar Pradesh, a pair of seventies for Aryan Juyal and Suyash Prabhudessai.
Baroda recorded a 10-wicket victory over Bihar. Bhargav Bhatt’s 6 for 53 triggered a collapse, and despite Mangal Mahrour’s 138 in the second innings, Bihar slipped from 203 for 2 to 251, leaving a target of only two runs. Meanwhile, Kerala enforced the follow-on after Vaisakh Chandran’s four-wicket haul bowled Odisha out for 225. In Puducherry, Sagar Trivedi celebrated his birthday by taking four wickets, leaving Madhya Pradesh five down for just 19 runs on day three. Mangal Mahrour’s 138 led a strong initial response from Bihar in the second dig. Before Baroda knocked off a 2-run target, but his efforts were in vain as the visitors crashed from 203 for 2 to 251.
Sikkim dominated Arunachal Pradesh with a massive innings and 328-run win. Satyajeet Bachhav took 5 for 27 to bowl Arunachal out for 123, while Gurinder Singh contributed 146 to help set a declaration at 572 for 5. In a closer contest, Jammu and Kashmir defended a small target of 78 against Vidarbha. Sunil Kumar took four wickets, but Nachiket Bhute, who took 5 for 48 in the second innings, ultimately guided Vidarbha to safety with the bat.
Meghalaya established a 103-run lead thanks to Abhishek Kumar’s four-wicket haul, but Manipur fought back to bowl them out for 172 behind Jotin Pheiroijam’s four wickets. Finally, in the match against Mizoram, Sedezhalie Rupero stayed unbeaten on 108 from 297 balls, supported by Yugandhar Singh’s 98, as Nagaland aimed to overcome a 258-run deficit. Railways also saw a determined effort from Bhargav Merai (73), Eshaan Goyal, and Ravi Singh, who all hit fifties against Rajasthan. With Yugandhar Singh’s 98 equally critical in setting up the foundation, nagaland need 258 runs to enter the lead.
