Karnataka enforce follow-on; Assam eye crucial lead

Delhi 301 (Gambhir 75, Manan 56, Rawal 54, Aravind 2-41, Sharath 2-46) and 22 for 0 trail Karnataka 542 (Uthappa 148, Agarwal 118, Pandey 81) by 219 runs
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Gautam Gambhir (75) top-scored for Delhi in a disappointing batting effort as they were made to follow on by Karnataka in Hubballi. Delhi, who were bowled out for 301, ended the day on 22 without loss in their second dig when stumps were drawn.

Delhi began cautiously and negotiated the first hour without too much trouble, before the middle order collapsed in a heap as they slipped from 136 for 3 to 166 for 6. Manan Sharma and Vaibhav Rawal then put together 93 for the seventh wicket as Delhi briefly looked like avoiding the follow-on. But that wasn't to be as Abhimanyu Mithun and Shreyas Gopal dismantled the tail quite easily. The pace trip of HS Sharath, Mithun and S Aravind picked up two wickets apiece.

Haryana 112 (Pankaj 4-10, Bhatia 3-41) and 287 for 6 (Saini 146, Hooda 56, Pankaj 3-73) lead Rajasthan 279 (Mohit Sharma 5-56) by 120 runs
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Nitin Saini's first century this season kept Haryana afloat, but Rajasthan still had the upper hand going into the final day in Lahli. Haryana, who conceded a 167-run lead, lost the wickets of Saini (146) and Mohit Hooda (56) in the final session to leave themselves a 120 run lead with four wickets standing at stumps.

Virender Sehwag, returning after missing the last two matches due to the All Stars T20 in USA, was scalped by Tanveer-Ul-Haq to make it a forgettable outing as he finished with scores of 29 and 8 for the match. When he was dismissed, Haryana were reduced to 110 for 3, needing another 57 to make Rajasthan bat again.

Saini then steadied the innings courtesy two important partnerships - 72 with Priyank Tehlan (34) and 88 with Mohit Hooda (56) - to keep Haryana alive, before Pankaj Singh's double strike halted their progress. The Rajasthan captain first had Tehlan lbw before having Hooda caught by Tanveer in the dying moments of play to break into the lower middle order.

Maharashtra 160 for 6 (Tripathi 52, Jadhav 36, Krishna Das 4-58) trail Assam 298 (Karthick 130, G Sharma 76, Mundhe 4-67) by 138 runs
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Assam were on course for a crucial first-innings lead in Pune after Krishna Das' four-wicket burst left Maharashtra reeling at 160 for 6 in response to Assam's 298 that was largely achieved on the back of a mammoth stand between Arun Karthik and Gokul Sharma. Karthik batted for 283 deliveries during his knock of 130, his third ton this season, while Gokul, the captain, made 76 during the course of a 237-run stand for the fourth-wicket.

Maharashtra's openers fell cheaply to Dhiraj Goswami, the pacer, before Krishna Das got into the act. Before long, the hosts were in tatters with the top four back in with hut with just 60 on the board. Rahul Tripathi continued his good form to make a defiant half-century, but little support from the other end meant Maharashtra's lower order will need to pull off a coup if they are to walk away with three points.