Defending champions Mumbai closed in on an outright win despite fine hundreds by Maharashtra skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad and seasoned middle-order batter Ankit Bawne on the third day of their Ranji Trophy Group A match here on Sunday.
Maharashtra were all out for 388 in their second innings, leaving Mumbai with a victory target of 74 with a full day's play left in the game.
At 13 for no loss at stumps, Mumbai were just 61 away from victory with openers Prithvi Shaw and Ayush Mhatre batting on 7 and 6 respectively.
Bawne struck a terrific hundred (101 off 152 balls) after Gaikwad responded with a century of his own after his first-innings failure but these efforts were not enough to make up for their forgettable outing with the bat on the opening day when the visiting side was bundled out for 126.
Star player Gaikwad, who was out for a two-ball duck in the first essay in a team total of 126, led Maharashtra's charge with a 145-run knock that came off 171 balls, while Bawne, who made his debut way back in 2007 as a 15-year-old, also shone after missing out in the last outing.
Bawne, who hit 10 fours during his knock, however gave away his wicket to Shams Mulani right after reaching the three-figure mark.
Group B: Aniket Choudhary shines in Rajasthan's win over Himachal
Left-arm pacer Aniket Choudhary took a five-wicket haul as Rajasthan romped to an eight-wicket win over Himachal Pradesh in a Ranji Trophy Group B game on Sunday.
Resuming overnight at 147 for two after following on, Himachal ended up with 260 in their second innings to avoid an innings defeat. Set a tiny target of 25, Rajasthan completed victory in 5.2 overs.
It was Rajasthan's first outright win of the season having earned three points for the first innings lead in the drawn opener against Puducherry.
Himachal number three Ankit Kalsi tried his best to delay the inevitable with 57 off 93 balls.
Choudhary was deservingly named player of the match as his five wickets came after three strikes in the first innings. Deepak Chahar was the standout bowler for the visitors in the first innings.
Left-arm spinner Manav Suthar chipped in with four wickets to contribute to Rajasthan's success.
Group C: Juyal's unbeaten century, Rinku's fiery 89 keep UP in game vs Haryana
Young skipper Aryan Juyal continued his fine form to slam an unbeaten century, while Rinku Singh smashed a brisk fifty as Uttar Pradesh reached 267/6 in reply to Haryana's 453 in their Ranji Trophy Group C match on Saturday.
Rinku hit 89 off 110 balls with 10 fours and three sixes, scoring 25 off 20 balls against Yuzvendra Chahal, who went wicket-less in 11 overs for 57 runs.
Juyal, who missed a century by eight runs in their last match against Bengal, got to his fourth first class hundred and was unbeaten on 118 from 196 balls (13x4, 1x6) as UP cut their deficit to 186 runs on the third day.
On a forgettable day for Chahal, Aman Kumar, Harshal Patel and Jayant Yadav bagged two wickets apiece for Haryana.
Earlier, Chahal added 10 runs to his overnight total before Hayana's innings ended at 453 with Shivam Sharma dismissing the India leg-spinner to return figures of 4/95.
At Mullanpur, opener Jaskaranvir Singh Paul shone with an unbeaten 117 on debut, leading Punjab to a commanding position against Madhya Pradesh.
Building on their 70-run first innings lead, Punjab posted 265/3 at stumps on day four, extending their overall lead to 335 runs.
Jaskaranvir's patient 273-ball knock, studded with nine fours and one six, was instrumental in keeping MP's attack -- comprising Avesh Khan, Kumar Kartikeya, and Kulwant Khejroliya -- at bay.
He forged a solid 109-run opening partnership with Abhay Choudhary (46 off 129 balls) before two quick wickets fell.
Anmolpreet Singh then provided valuable support with a brisk 72 off 108 balls (7x4), helping Punjab consolidate their position.
Group D: Dhull scores fighting ton but Delhi struggle against TN
Yash Dhull's fighting century was not enough for Delhi as the hosts trailed Tamil Nadu by 410 runs in their first innings on the third and penultimate day of the Group D Ranji Trophy match.
Resuming on overnight score of 43 for no loss in reply to Tamil Nadu's mammoth 674 for 6 declared, Dhull stood tall and remained unbeaten on 103 off 189 balls with the help of 11 boundaries and three sixes, single-handedly pushing Delhi's total to 264 for 8 in 97 overs.
Besides Dhull, wicket-keeper Pranav Rajvanshi made 40, while Sanat Sangwan (36) and Harsh Tyagi (35) shared 74 runs for the first wicket.
For Tamil Nadu, medium pacer M Mohammed (2/30), Washington Sundar (2/42) and left-arm pacer Gurjapneet Singh (2/48) shared six wicket between them.
In Guwahati, Assam were staring at a defeat after struggling to 144 for 7 in their second innings against Chandigarh, taking an overall lead of just 36 runs with one full day's play remaining.
In response to Assam's 266 in the first innings, Chandigarh scored 374 after resuming at the overnight score of 301 for 5.
Raj Bawa made 146, while skipper Manan Vohra and Mayank Sidhu scored 59 and 57 respectively.
For Assam right-arm pacer Mukhtar Hussain took three wickets for 61 runs.
It was a sad outing for Assam in the second innings as the top five batters got starts but could not convert them into big scores, leaving the side at a precarious 144 for 7.
Parvej Musaraf (27), Rahul Hazarika (22), Abhishek Thakuri (24), skipper Danish Das (24) and Sibsankar Roy (19) all got starts but gave away their wickets.
Medium pacer Jagjit Singh (4/39) was the wrecker-in-chief for Chandigarh.
In Rajkot, India discard Cheteshwar Pujara was battting on 75 and Sheldon Jackson was unbeaten on 57 as he duo shared a 96-run stand for the third wicket to take Saurashtra to 177 for 2 in reply to Chhatisgarh's 578 for 7 declared in the first innings.
