Samit Gohel (261) struck his maiden double hundred in first class cricket in a dominating batting performance by Gujarat, who have taken an iron grip over their Ranji Trophy quarter-final against Odisha at the end of day four, here.
Beginning at 246 for three, Gujarat ended the penultimate day at a strong 514 for eight to take their overall lead to 578, a position from where they can't lose and force an outright result on the final day.
26-year old Gohel had started at overnight score of 110 and at close he was unbeaten at 261, which came off 555 balls. Giving him company at close was Hardik Patel (11).
Gohel's knock was studded with 33 shots to the fence and one over it even as his other colleagues got starts but could not convert those into big ones.
Gohel's overnight partner Manpreet Juneja (24) added only 18 more runs to his yesterday's score while skipper Parthiv Patel made 40 before being bowled by Dhiraj Singh, who completed a five-for in Odisha's misery.
Dhiraj also removed Chirag Gandhi (6) and Rush Kalaria (11) to return figures of five for 139.
Gujarat are unlikely to lose from this position and an early declaration tomorrow morning will give them opportunity to force an outright win. Odisha had scored a mere 199 in their first innings.
Brief Scores:
Gujarat 263 and 514 for 8 in 176 overs (S Gohel 261 batting, H Patel 11 batting; D Singh 139/5)
Odisha 1st innings: 199 all out.
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