A fine half-century by skipper Venugopal Rao (80) and useful knocks from Yogesh Takwale (44) and Vishal Bhilare (31) helped Maharashtra score 287 and take a solid 182-run lead over hosts Rajasthan in the Ranji Trophy league match at the KL Saini stadium in Jaipur on Friday.
Rajasthan, who were bundled out for 105 in the first innings, fared better in their second knock and were 166 for 3 at the draw of stumps on the second day, with Vinit Saxena (38) and Rajesh Bishnoi (41) at the crease.
The hosts received a blow when veteran Gagan Khoda (34) was forced to retire hurt.
Earlier, Maharashtra resumed the day at 155 for 3 and consolidated the advantage through Rao and Takwale. They put on 109 runs for the fourth wicket.
Later, Bhilare's valuable contribution helped the visitors reach 287.
For the hosts, Pankaj Singh was the most successful bowler, scalping four wickets for 83, while Sumit Mathur, Afroj Khan and Rahul Kanwat took two wickets each.
Scorecard
Rajasthan (1st innings):
R Sharma b Patel 2
G Khoda c Mohan b Patel 43
R Kanwat b Sayyed 6
V Saxena c More b Khadiwale 10
R Bist c Venugopal Rao b Patel 5
R Bishnoi c Mohan b Patel 4
R Jhalani lbw b Khadiwale 5
Afroz Khan not out 21
Pankaj Singh b Bahutule 0
M Aslam b Bahutule 3
S Mathur c Takawale b Bahutule 1
Extras: (lb 4, nb 1) 5
Total: 105
Fall of wickets: 1-16, 2-31, 3-45, 4-57, 5-67, 6-72, 7-84, 8-85, 9-89, 10-105.
Bowling: M Patel 16-4-54-4, W Sayyed 7-2-26-1, H Khadiwale 10-3-19-2, S Bahutule 2.4-2-2-3.
Maharashtra (1st innings):
V More c Saxena b Afroz Khan 32
H Khadiwale c Bist b Pankaj Singh 57
K Jadhav c Jhalani b Afroz Khan 8
Y Venugopal Rao b Pankaj Singh 80
Y Takawale c Jhalani b Pankaj Singh 44
V Bhilare b Kanwat 31
D Mohan lbw b Kanwat 5
S Bahutule b Pankaj Singh 5
S Agharkar not out 4
M Patel b Mathur 1
W Sayyed b Mathur 4
Extras: (b 9, lb 1, w 3, nb 3) 16
Total: 287
Fall of wickets: 1-69, 2-84, 3-113, 4-180, 5-253, 6-265, 7-275, 8-282, 9-283, 10-287.
Bowling: P Singh 25-6-83-4, S Mathur 19.5-0-78-2, M Aslam 20-4-42-0, Afroz Khan 16-4-54-2, R Kanwat 7-1-20-2.
Rajasthan (2nd innings):
R Sharma b Sayyed 6 20 11 1 0 54.54
G Khoda retired hurt 34 0 31 7 0 109.67
R Kanwat lbw b Bahutule 16 42 21 2 0 76.19
V Saxena not out 38 0 114 2 0 33.33
R Bist c Jadhav b Bahutule 0 1 1 0 0 0.00
R Bishnoi not out 41 0 95 4 0 43.15
Extras: (b 4, lb 12, w 6, nb 3) 25
Total: (for 3 wickets in 45 overs) 160
Fall of wickets: 1-23, 2-78, 3-78.
Bowling: M Patel 12-2-48-0, W Sayyed 9-1-36-1, S Bahutule 16-2-45-2, H Khadiwale 2-0-2-0, S Agharkar 6-1-13-0.