Gujarat overcame early setbacks to reach 89 for two in the second innings and put themselves in sight of a hard-earned victory against Delhi in the Ranji Trophy Elite Group 'A' match in New Delhi on Monday.
Mithun Manhas struck a rearguard 75 before captain Amit Bhandari picked two early wickets, but Delhi will need a few more outstanding performances to stop the visitors from knocking off the remaining 129 runs with eight wickets in hand and a full day's play left.
At stumps on the third day, opener Nilesh Modi was unbeaten on 32 and Bhavik Thakker 25 not out.
The hosts staged a brilliant fightback to post 291 in the second innings earlier in the day. It was the highest score in the match, and went some distance in making amends for their paltry 69 in the first innings.
But that debacle may yet come to haunt the hosts while Gujarat, dismissed for a not so good 143 in reply, might pat themselves on the back for the handy 72 run lead.
Gujarat's right-arm seamer Siddharth Trivedi picked his second five-wicket haul of the match (5-65) which included the key wickets of Aakash Chopra and Manhas.
Chopra departed in the first over of the day, falling leg before without adding to his overnight score of 70.
It was then left to Manhas to shepherd the tail and the right-handed batsman lived up to his reputation as a recovery specialist.
Through the morning session and well into the next, Manhas helped his team add 105 runs for the last four wickets.
Scorecard
Delhi 1st innings 69
Gujarat 1st innings 143
Delhi 2nd innings
S Dhawan c PA Patel b Trivedi 55
A Chopra lbw b Trivedi 70
M Tehlan b Trivedi 4
V Kumar b Majmudar 17
P Chawla b Makda 9
R Bhatia c PA Patel b Majmudar 15
M Manhas b Trivedi 75
C Nanda c PA Patel b Makda 5
K Lal c PA Patel b Majmudar 29
A Bhandari c Modi b Trivedi 0
M Deewan not out 0
Extras (b 5, lb 6, nb 1) 12
Total (all out, 120.5 overs, 521 mins) 291
Fall of wickets: 1-79, 2-83, 3-107, 4-129, 5-168, 6-186, 7-201, 8-287, 9-288, 10-291
Bowling: Trivedi 36.5 12 65 5 (1nb), Makda 33 8 97 2, Majmudar 27 7 59 3, Watekar 14 4 37 0, Kalpesh Patel 10 3 22 0
Gujarat 2nd innings (target: 218 runs)
ND Modi not out 32
AA Christian lbw b Bhandari 16
NK Patel c Varun Kumar b Bhandari 13
BD Thaker not out 25
Extras (lb 2, nb 1) 3
Total (2 wickets, 24.2 overs) 89
Fall of wickets: 1-22, 2-42
Bowling: Bhandari 11 3 28 2 (1nb), Kunal Lal 9 2 39 0, Deewan 1.2 0 11 0, Nanda 3 0 9 0
