Chasing 124 for victory, Punjab were reduced to 32 for five in the 12th over courtesy of some fine new-ball bowling by the in-form Shoaib Khan and his partner Siraparapu Ashish. It was wicket-keeper batsman Malhotra — Man-of-the-Match for his unbeaten 51 — and No.6 Abhishek Gupta who rescued the ship with a 69-run stand. Gupta fell for 37, which included two fours and a six, before Malhotra, who struck four fours and a six en route his half-century, took the hosts home along with Mayank Markande. Earlier in the day, Vinay Choudhary took six and Markande picked up four for 46 to bowl Andhra out for 134 in their second bout.

Mohammed Azharuddeen fifty keeps Kerala steady

Bowlers put Rajasthan on top against Bengal

Delhi’s hopes of taking their total past the 300-run mark were cut short when top-scorer Kunwar Bidhuri (78) was dismissed off the fifth ball of the day. Roosh Kalaria, who finished with figures of five for 78, then cleaned up the tail as Delhi’s first innings ended at 293. The hosts struck back with two early strikes, leaving Gujarat at 33 for two, before half-centurion Samit Gohel steadied the ship. Gohel’s dismissal was followed by another one soon after and the visitors suddenly had two new batsmen at the crease — the team still trailing Delhi by 205 runs. However, Juneja and Raval cashed in on their opportunity with unbeaten half-centuries — 88 and 83 respectively — to take their team through to 269 for four at stumps.