East Zone were looking for a historic win as they reached 213 for three in the second innings on the fourth day of the Duleep Trophy cricket final against North Zone at the PCA Stadium in Mohali on Sunday.
First innings centurion Kiran Powar was batting on 51 with night-watchman Sourasishi Lahiri on one at the other end at stumps, leaving East needing another 196 to record their first Duleep Trophy victory with seven wickets in hand.
The hosts, bowled out for 400 in the morning, have their chances too and East might be hampered by the fact that their experienced Shiv Sunder Das is nursing a torn calf-muscle.
The Test batsman did not open the batting after being off the field during North's second innings.
But it was poor cricket from the home team as they first failed to consolidate on the solid foundation laid by Yuvraj Singh yesterday, and then dropped four simplest chances besides a number of fielding lapses to allow East dictate terms.
In a match that has been full of ironies, Yuvraj Singh was the culprit on two occasions, although Rohan Gavaskar, the batsman to benefit from the reprieves, was dismissed before the close of play.
The other chance, floored by Ajay Ratra off Kiran Powar while the batsman was on 21, though seems to hurt them already.
Skipper Dinesh Mongia will also be at a disadvantage as the second new ball is more than 20 overs due and only one specialist spinner, Sarandeep Singh, in the team.
The man who set up the match for East was veteran left-arm spinner Utpal Chatterjee who grabbed four for 63 as he ploughed through the North middle order.
The ageing Chatterjee showed immense stamina as he left the younger players in his wake as during the warming-down laps around the ground in the evening, struck in the very first over of the day when he had Mithun Manhas leg before withough adding a run to his overnight score.
He then had Ajay Ratra caught by Arindam Das for two as Mongia's fears of another middle order collapse began to come true.
The captain himself was gone eight overs later when he chose to sweep Chatterjee and was bowled around his legs for 48.
Sarandeep Singh then returned a simple catch to the veteran before Joginder Sharma edged Shib Shankar Paul to wicketkeeper Mahender Singh Dhoni.
Debashish Mohanty sent Gagandeep Singh's off stump cart wheeling and then had Ashish Nehra caught behind to end the North innings.
Arindam Das, opening in place of SS Das, and Dhoni then gave East a terrific start with their flaying of the four-pronged pace attack.
Dhoni, who needed just 47 balls for his searing 60, hooked Ashish Nehra effortlessly over the square leg boundary.
His bat was hanging dangerously at times but the right-hander had one mission when he came in -- to destroy the seamer's confidence.
