Punjab struggle in steep chase

A brisk half-century from Suryakumar Yadav and a cameo from No. 10 batsman Javed Khan helped Mumbai set Punjab a target of 399 to win. Despite left-arm spinner Rajwinder Singh's maiden five-for, Punjab were a shaky 108 for 4 by the end of the day.

With a first-innings lead of 127, Mumbai began the third day at 35 for no loss and the openers Kaustubh Pawar and Aditya Tare added another 42 runs before Tare fell to Rajwinder. Rajwinder made further inroads, dismissing Wasim Jaffer and Abhishek Nayar quickly to leave Mumbai at 119 for 4. Debutant, Siddhesh Lad, and Yadav then added 80 runs, stretching Mumbai's lead beyond 300.

Lad's dismissal to Harbhajan Singh, however, triggered a slide, with Mumbai losing their next five wickets for 27 runs, before a 30-ball 44 from pacer Javed Khan powered the side to 271. Rajwinder finished with 5 for 102, while Harbhajan took his second four-for in the game, to end with 4 for 67.

Punjab started well as openers Jiwanjot Singh and Ravi Inder Singh added 48. However, Zaheer Khan's two wickets in successive overs set them back. Taruwar Kohli and Yuvraj Singh shared a brief stand, but Vishal Dabholkar, who took a six-for in the first innings, struck to dismiss Kohli and Mandeep Singh. Punjab's hopes now of survival now rest on Yuvraj, who is unbeaten on 19 off 47 balls.

Half-centuries from Manish Pandey, Ganesh Satish and Vinay Kumar helped Karnataka take a 60-run first-innings lead against Jharkhand on the third day in Mysore.

Karnataka began the day at a strong 123 for 1 and the overnight batsmen, Mayank Agarwal and Kunal Kapoor extended their stand to 99 before Kapoor was dismissed for 49. Agarwal missed a century on his first-class debut by 10 runs after he was bowled by Rahul Shukla.

Manish Pandey and wicketkeeper CM Gautam added 69 runs for the fourth wicket, the first of four fifty-plus stands between Karnataka's middle and lower-middle order that helped the side grab the first innings lead. Satish and Vinay Kumar chipped in with fifties before Karnataka declared their innings at 424 for 7. In reply, Jharkhand were 4 for none at the end of the day.

Offspinner Jayant Yadav's maiden five-wicket haul helped Haryana gain a 71-run lead against Vidarbha in Nagpur at stumps on the third day. Vidarbha began the day at 94 for 3, but didn't have the best start, losing overnight batsman Ranjit Paradkar for 14.

Hemang Badani and Rashmi Parida added 55 for the sixth wicket but Yadav, who had taken three wickets on the second day, broke the stand, sending Badani back for 65 with the score at 167 for 5. Parida and Amol Jungade resisted with a 45-run stand, but once Parida was dismissed by Yadav for 60, Mohit Sharma and Yuzvendra Chahal cleaned up the rest of the line-up to dismiss the hosts for 287 and give Haryana a lead of 42. Haryana's second innings was jolted by the quick loss of openers Nitin Saini and Abhimanyu Khod, and they played out 10 overs on the third day to finish at 29 for 2.

Delhi picked up four Gujarat wickets in the second innings after conceding a 25-run lead, but an unbeaten fifth-wicket stand of 42 between Parthiv Patel and Smit Patel stretched Gujarat's overall lead beyond 100 to set up the prospect of a result-oriented final day in Surat. On a testing pitch, 10 wickets fell and only 189 runs were scored on the third day, with left-arm spinner Akshar Patel picking up a maiden five-wicket haul. Read the full report here.