With a full day to spare, Tamil Nadu were well on their way to achieve an outright win over Maharashtra, who were reeling at 75 for eight while facing a target of 193, on the penultimate day of their Group B Ranji Trophy match.

Tamil Nadu started their second essay with a cushion of 43 runs, but Maharashtra bowlers put paid to their aspirations and dismissed them for a mere 149 in 49.1 overs, thanks to good efforts by spinners Akshay Darekar (4/64) and Chirag Khurana (4/27).

Baba Aparajith (35) and wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik (35) were the ones who resisted for sometime, before losing their wickets.

However, the Tamil Nadu bowlers did a shade better than their rivals, bowling to a good line and length, which troubled the Maharashtra batsmen throughout at the MA Chidambaram Stadium.

Four of the six bowlers who operated -- L Balaji, R Aushik Srinivas, M Rangarajan and Yo Mahesh -- claimed two wickets each.

Brief scores:
Tamil Nadu: 276 and 149
Maharsashtra: 233 and 75 for eight.