Spinners Shreyas Gopal and Shikhar Shetty came up with stellar spells as Karnataka trounced Chandigarh by an innings and 185 runs on the third day of their four-day Ranji Trophy Elite Group B match, in Hubli on Tuesday.
In another Group B match, Maharashtra inflicted an innings and 92-run defeat on Punjab to leap to second place with 18 points from five matches.
Left-spinner Vicky Ostwal (6/26) and pacer Rajvardhan Hangargekar (5/44) were the lead performers for Maharashtra in Mullanpur.
Against Karnataka, Chandigarh started the day on 72 for four in their first innings, and folded for 222 in their first innings despite skipper Manan Vohra making an unbeaten 106.
Leg-spinner Shreyas (7/73) was the lead act in the destruction of Chandigarh's batting unit in the first innings.
Shetty (2/43) gave him good support, but in the second innings the 20-year-old left-arm spinner assumed the mantle of the leader.
Having conceded a massive first innings lead of 325, Chandigarh had the tough task of batting out a total of five sessions to avoid an innings defeat.
But the visitors faltered in the second innings as well to get bowled out for 140. Shetty (5/61) led Karnataka's bowling with fine support from Shreyas (3/45).
Shetty bowled 11.5 overs non-stop from his end in the second spell to take five wickets conceding 47 runs, after conceding 14 runs in his one over first spell.
Shreyas thus completed a match-haul of 10 for 118 runs.
Karnataka bagged seven points from the match, including a bonus point for an innings win to go atop Group B with 21 points from five matches.
Ravichandran Smaran, who made a double hundred in the match, was named player of the match.
Brief scores:
In Hubli: Karnataka: 547/8 declared beat Chandigarh: 222 all out (Manan Vohra 106 not out, Shreyas Gopal 7/73, Shikhar Shetty 2/43) and 143 all out (Shivam Bhambri 43; Shikhar Shetty 5/61, Shreyas Gopal 3/45) by an innings and 185 runs. Points: Karnataka 7; Chandigarh 0
In Mullanpur: Maharashtra 350 all out beat Punjab 151 all out (Anmol Malhotra 35; Rajvardhan Hangargkekar 5/44, Rajneesh Gurbani 4/39) and 107 all out (Vicky Ostwal 6/26) by an innings and 92 runs. Points: Maharashtra 7; Chandigarh 0.
In Rajkot: Saurashtra: 587/7 decl vs Goa: 358 all out (Abhinav Tejrana 118, Lalit Yadav 59, Rajsekhar Harikant 69; Yuvrajsinh Dodiya 6/98) and 77/2.
In Indore: Kerala 281 all out and 218/3 in 62 overs (Sachin Baby 81 batting, Baba Aparajith 85 batting) vs Madhya Pradesh: 192 all out.
Nalkande puts Vidarbha on top vs Baroda
Pacer Darshan Nalkande (4/7) struck four times to rock the Baroda top-order and put Vidarbha in the driver's seat in their Group A match in Nagpur.
Set a target of 276, Baroda were tottering at 73 for five in their second innings when the stumps were drawn on the third evening.
With half their side back in the dressing room, it could be an extremely difficult task for the visiting side Baroda to get the remaining 203 runs and claim an outright victory on a challenging fourth day pitch at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium.
Following up his first-innings 40 not out, middle-order batter Yash Rathod proved to be the fulcrum around which the Vidarbha second innings revolved.
The 25-year-old Rathod worked hard to play what could prove to be a priceless knock of 91 off 142 balls.
His knock was studded with seven hits to the fence, and more importantly, he was involved in a vital partnership of 128 runs for the fourth wicket with Ravikumar Samarth, who chipped in with 45 off 129 balls.
This was after former Delhi batter Dhruv Shorey contributed 61 and Atharva Taide made 40 at the top of the order after the early departure of Aman Mokhade for a duck on the second day, leaving Vidarbha with plenty of ground to cover.
Skipper Atit Sheth was the most successful bowler for Baroda, finishing with fine figures of 5/47 in just under 16 overs.
Baroda's chase began on a disastrous note with Nalkande sending back the first four visiting batters to the dressing room with just 17 runs on the board.
Parth Rekhade then chipped in with the wicket of wicketkeeper Mitesh Patel to leave Baroda reeling at 55 for five.
At stumps, Sukirt Pandey and Ninad Rathva were batting on 35 and 10 respectively.
Earlier, Vidarbha began the third day's play from 126 for three with Rathod on 15 and Samarth on 8.
Brief scores:
In Nagpur: Vidarbha 169 and and 272 all out (Yash Rathod 91, Dhruv Shorey 61; Atit Sheth 5/47) vs Baroda 166 and 73/5 (Sukirt Pandey 35 not out; Darshan Nalkande 4/7).
In Coimbatore: Tamil Nadu 455 all out (Baba Indrajith 149, C Andre Siddarth 121, Guruswamy Ajitesh 86; Kunal Tyagi 2/51, Kartik Yadav 5/103) vs Uttar Pradesh 339 for 6 (Abhishek Goswami 79, Rinku Singh 98 not out).
In Jamshedpur: Jharkhand 328 and 34 for 2 (Sharandeep Singh 115, Virat Singh 41, Sahil Raj 50; KV Sasikanth 4/67, Saurabh Kumar 4/77) vs Andhra 567 for 6 decl. (Abhishek Reddy 247, Karan Shinde 94).
In Bhubaneswar: Odisha 275 and 350 for 5 decl. (Swastik Samal 169, Subhranshu Senapati 137) vs Nagaland 161 and 41 for 1.
Bengal on course for fourth straight win
All-rounder Shahbaz Ahmed struck his second first-class century before Mohammed Shami delivered a double blow in successive overs as hosts Bengal tightened their grip in pursuit of a fourth successive win in Group C, in Kalyani.
Resuming at 267/4, Bengal carried on from their strong position overnight with Shahbaz, who began the third day on 61, settling in quickly alongside Sumanta Gupta as the pair drove the hosts to a commanding 442 all out.
At stumps on the penultimate day, Assam were 98/3 in their second innings, still 144 runs behind with seven wickets in hand, as Bengal pressed for a second straight bonus-point win.
Bengal lead the Group C table with three wins from four matches and remain two points clear of second-placed Haryana (18).
Shahbaz's fluent 101 off 122 balls, laced with 11 fours and two sixes, anchored Bengal's innings.
Gupta matched him stroke-for-stroke during their imposing 129-run fifth-wicket stand before Mukhtar Hussain finally broke through, trapping Shahbaz soon after the left-hander completed his century.
Having returned from injury in the Gujarat match, the spin bowling all-rounder has been in prolific touch lower down the order.
With the bat, he has back-to-back scores of 86 and 51 not out, and is now Bengal's second-highest run-getter this season with 300 runs at an average of 60 from just three matches.
The left-arm spinner has also been among their leading wicket-takers with 18 scalps, including a match haul of eight against Railways that sealed a bonus-point win in their previous match.
Only Shami (20 wickets) is ahead of him in the pecking order.
While the Bengal top order, including India Test hopeful and skipper Abhimanyu Easwaran (66), once again failed to convert their starts, Shahbaz, at No. 5, looked in complete command.
Gupta too showed fine temperament, adding crucial runs with the lower order, including Rahul Prasad (28 off 48), as Bengal crossed 400.
Gupta fell agonisingly short of a century, dismissed for 97 by Rituraj Biswas (2/40).
Shami provided the late flourish with the bat, smashing an 18-ball 14, studded with two fours and a six to prop up the total past 440.
Assam's reply began disastrously, with both openers -- Rishav Das and Pradyun Saikia -- dismissed without scoring, while No. 3 Swarupam Purkayastha managed just four.
Shami struck with the second ball of the innings and removed Purkayastha off the first delivery of his next over, both edging behind.
Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal then trapped Saikia LBW after the opener stayed for 16 balls.
Reduced to 8/3 inside six overs, Assam were steadied by Denish Das and skipper Sumit Ghadigaonkar, who dug in to see off the day.
Denish was batting on a fighting 63 off 106 balls with seven fours (7x4), while Ghadigaonkar, who top-scored with 61 in Assam's first-innings of 200, was unbeaten on 30 off 100 deliveries (2x4).
The pair added 90 runs for the unbroken fourth wicket.
Bengal's key task on the final day will be to break the partnership early as Assam face an uphill climb, still trailing by 144 runs with seven wickets remaining.
Railways win with bonus point
Left-arm spinner Raj Choudhary returned match figures of 9/65, including a decisive 5/35 in the second innings, as Railways thrashed Tripura by an innings and 117 runs in another Group C encounter.
After Tripura were bundled out for 136 in the first innings, Railways piled up a commanding 446/9 declared, built around centuries from Mohammad Saif (158) and Bhargav Merai (160).
Choudhary triggered another collapse in Tripura's second essay, running through the middle and lower order to claim his five-for of the match.
Only Swapnil Singh (41) and opener Babul Dey (37) offered some resistance before Tripura folded for 193.
Brief scores:
In Kalyani: Assam 200 and 98/3 (Denish Das 63 not out, Sumit Ghadigaonkar 30 not out; Mohammed Shami 2/29) vs Bengal 442 all out (Shahbaz Ahmed 101, Sumanta Gupta 97, Abhimanyu Easwaran 66, Habib Gandhi 58; Abdul Ajij Kuraishi 2/67, Akash Sengupta 2/85, Rituraj Biswas 2/40).
In Valsad: Tripura 136 and 193 (Swapnil Singh; Raj Choudhary 5/35, Shivam Chuadhary 3/19) lost to Railways 446/9 decl. by an innings and 117 runs. Points: Railways 7; Tripura 0.
In Dehradun: Gujarat 324/8 decl. and 291/5 decl. (Aarya Desai 80, Jaymeet Patel 60, Urvil Patel 58; Mayank Mishra 3/78) vs Uttarakhand 272 and 43 for no loss.
In Rohtak: Services 205 and 283/7 decl. (Rajat Paliwal 61, Vineet Dhankhar 57 not out). Haryana 111 and 136/6 (Yashvardhan Dalal 46 not out).
Delhi recover after conceding first innings lead
Delhi conceded the first innings lead to Rajasthan but did well to recover to 296 all out after an ordinary start in their Group D encounter against Rajasthan in Rajsamand.
Delhi's winless record this season is likely to continue as they trail Rajasthan by 274 runs. Rajasthan had piled on 570 for seven in their first innings, effectively batting Delhi out of the game.
Opener Arpit Rana (62), Vaibhav Khandpal (62) and Pranav Rajvanshi (57) scored fifties for Delhi. Kukna Ajay Singh and Jaideep Singh took three wickets each for Rajasthan.
In Bandra Kurla Complex, Mumbai were on course for a big win over Puducherry having reduced them to 231 for six after enforcing the follow-on.
Puducherry still trail by 267 runs and the game should be over in the first session on day four.
After declaring at 630 for 5, Mumbai dismissed Puducherry for 132 and made them bat again.
Captain Shardul Thakur and off-spinner Tanush Kotian took three wickets in the first innings before adding one more to their tally in the second essay. Aman Khan was the highest scorer for Puducherry in the second innings, making 84 off 44 balls batting at number eight.
Brief scores:
In Mumbai: 630/5 decl. (Musheer Khan 84, Akhil Herwadkar 86, Siddhesh Lad 170, Sarfaraz Khan 67, Akash Anand 107 not out, Shardul Thakur 56 retd hurt; Sabhay Chadha 2/146) vs Pondicherry 132 all out (Mohit Kale 53 not out; Shardul Thakur 3/22, Tushar Deshpande 2/26).
In Jammu: Jammu and Kashmir 170 & 422 all out (Abdul Samad 125, Kanhaiya Wadhawan 95; Rakshan Readdi 3/86, Tanay Thyagarajn 4/87) vs Hyderabad 121 and 169/7 (Tanmay Agarwal; Abid Mushtaq 4/56).
In Rajsamand: Rajasthan 570/7 decl. (Sachin Yadav 130, Kunal Singh Rathore 102, Mahipal Lomror , Kartik Sharma 120; Simarjeet Singh 3/81) vs Delhi 296 all out (Arpit Rana 62; Vaibhav Khandpal 62; Jaideep Singh 3/36).
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