RAJKOT: Defending champions Saurashtra were staring at defeat after being left tottering at 148 for six in their second innings against Haryana in their Ranji Trophy Group A match on Saturday.
With Haryana left-arm spinner grabbing three wickets on day two of the contest to wipe out Saurashtra's top order, the side led by India cricketer Jaydev Unadkat could lose the match on Day 3 itself as the defending champions have a lead of just 93 runs and only the tail-enders to fall back on.
Haryana, after dismissing Saurashtra for 145 on Friday, took the first-innings lead before their innings folded up for 200 with opener Ankit Kumar (74) and Himanshu Rana (70) working hard for their half-centuries.
The duo kept Haryana afloat and helped it take a first-innings lead of 55 runs before Dharmendrasinh Jadeja (3/58), Parth Bhut (3/34) and Yuvrajsinh Dodiya (4/55) dismissed them for 200 in 67 overs.
But the 55-run lead came in handy to put pressure on Saurashtra batters in the second innings, who succumbed to pressure tactics with dependable opener Harvik Desai departing for 15 and Cheteshwar Pujara, after getting a good start, getting dismissed on 43 by a Sindhu delivery.
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