Ranji Trophy: Gujarat outbat Odisha to virtually seal semis berth

Jaipur: 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 yesterday.

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.

The 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.