Rest fight but Gujarat hold upper hand

Mumbai, January 22 

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Rest of India fought back well after conceding a 132-run first innings lead to Gujarat but the newly crowned Ranji Trophy champions maintained the upper hand at the end of Day 3 of the Irani Cup here today. At stumps, Gujarat were 227/8, ahead by 359 runs, with first-innings centurion Chirag Gandhi (55) and Hardik Patel at the crease. 

For Gujarat, prolific opener Priyank Panchal led the way with a patient 73 after the early fall of his partner Samit Gohel. The twin dismissals of Panchal, who faced 135 balls and hit nine fours, and captain Parthiv Patel for 32, who was unfortunate to be given out caught off the pads, helped Rest keep things tight. Gandhi, however, kept the innings afloat in the company of the lower-order batsmen. Having scored 169 in the first innings, he looked confident and kept the scoreboard moving. 

For Rest, the pick of the bowlers was left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem, who returned excellent figures of 4/53 from 23 overs. The seasoned spinner gave a good account of himself by varying his pace and flight, and using the arm ball to great effect. 

The Brabourne track is still looking good for batting but a target in excess of 350, which Rest would be chasing to win the game, would be quite tough to achieve against the Gujarat attack.

Brief scores: Gujarat 358 and 227/8 (P Panchal 73, C Gandhi 55*; Shahbaz Nadeem 4 /53, M Siraj 2/39) v Rest of India 226 (A Herwadkar 48, C Pujara 86; C Gaja 4/60). — PTI