Ranji: Maharashtra take first innings lead against Karnataka

Pune: Maharashtra took a surprising first innings lead after bowling out defending champions Karnataka for 180 on day two of the Ranji Trophy Group A match here on Wednesday.

Medium pacers Anupam Sanklecha, Shrikant Mundhe and Nikit Dhumal ran through the Karnataka batting with the innings ending in 67.4 overs.

Maharashtra, who had made 212 in their first attempt, were 70 for four in their second innings and 102 ahead of the visitors, setting up an exciting end to the game. Karnataka captain R Vinay Kumar and fellow medium pacer Sreenath Aravind struck twice to get their team back into the contest.

Brief scores:

Maharashtra 1st innings: 212 allout and 70/4 in 30 overs (Rahul Tripathi batting 31; Vinay Kumar (2/24, Sreenath Aravind 2/17)

Karnataka 1st innings: 180 all out in 67.4 overs (Mayank Agarwal 33; Anupam Sanklecha 4/58, Shrikant Mundhe 3/54, Nikit Dhumal 3/46).