Railways wrested back the initiative from Maharashtra, skittling out the visitors for 237 on the second day of the Ranji Trophy Elite Group 'A' match in New Delhi on Wednesday.
At stumps, Railways were 43 for no loss, with skipper Sanjay Bangar (11) and Amit Pagnis (31) at the crease.
The visitors were cruising at 208 for five at one stage but the new ball, which was taken after 100 overs, did all the trick for the defending champions as Jai Prakash Yadav (4-30) and Harvinder Singh (2-65) combined to send the visitors packing for the addition of just 29 runs.
Earlier, resuming the day at 55 for one, Maharashtra were looking to put on a formidable score as skipper Hrishikesh Kanitkar (55) and Dheeraj Jadhav (82) forged a 127-run second wicket partnership.
After Maharashtra lost two quick wickets in Kanitkar and Aphale, Sairaj Bahutule (54 not out) dropped anchor and batted patiently with Jadhav, keeping the scoreboard moving at a brisk pace.
Jadhav's fine innings came to an end when he was caught behind while trying to cut Kulamani Parida.
But none of the lower order batsmen were able to show any resistance as Bahutule, who applied the sweep shot to the spinners with a good effect, finally ran out of partners.
Scoreboard:
Maharashtra 1st innings (overnight score: 55-1)
D Jadhav c Wankhede b Parida 82
A Kale c Wankhede b J P Yadav 1
H Kanitkar b Bangar 55
K Aphale c Bangar b Parida 0
S Bahutule not out 54
Y Takawale b Singh 12
Y Pawar lbw b Singh 0
S Satbhai b J P Yadav 1
M Patel b J P Yadav 4
S Burkul run out 8
R Jadhav b J P Yadav 2
Extras (b 2, lb 3, nb 13) 18
Total (all out in 111.4 overs) 237
Fall of wickets: 1-9, 2-136, 3-137, 4-166, 5-208, 6-208, 7-213, 8-222, 9-233, 10-237.
Bowling: H Singh 27-3-65-2, J P Yadav 20.4-10-30-4, S Bangar 22-8-43-1, K Parida 15-3-25-2, M Yadav 22-3-57-0, S Khanolkar 5-0-12-0.
Railways 1st innings
A Pagnis not out 31
S Bangar not out 11
Extras (nb 1) 1
Total (0 wickets in 19 overs) 43
Bowling: M Patel 8-2-19-0, S Burkul 8-3-18-0, R Jadhav 3-1-6-0.