Vaibhav Rawal struck a fine century, while skipper Himmat Singh returned to his class with a fifty as Delhi took a vital first-innings lead over Mumbai in a Group B Ranji Trophy match here on Wednesday.
After bowling out Mumbai for 293 in their first innings on Tuesday, Delhi rode on Rawal and Singh's fine knocks to reach 316 for 7, a lead of 23 runs on the second day of the four-day match.
But the start was far from rosy for Delhi as they lost both their openers — Vaibhav Sharma and Dhruv Shorey — early.
Hrithik Shokeen made a stroke-filled 45 off 60 balls.
But IPL specialist Nitish Rana and Shokeen fell in quick succession as Delhi slumped to 88 for 4.
Then Rawal and skipper Singh joined hands and carried Delhi forward with a 195-fifth-wicket stand.
But just when Singh was looking dangerous, he was stumped by Prasad Pawar off the bowling of Shams Mulani in the 80th over.
Rawal, who made 114 off 195 balls with the help of 16 boundaries, followed suit soon, bowled by Mulani.
Delhi lost another wicket in the form of wicket-keeper Anuj Rawat (14).
At stumps on the second day, Pranshu Vijayran (4 not out) and Divij Mehra (8 not out) were at the crease.
Mayank leads reply
Thiruvananthapuram: Skipper Mayank Agarwal hit an unbeaten 87 to lead Karnataka, in reply to Kerala's 342 in the first innings on day two of their Elite Group C match.
Resuming at the overnight 224 for 6, the home team added 118 more runs to the total with the experienced Jalaj Saxena scoring a crucial half-century (57).
Sachin Baby, who was batting on 113 at stumps on day 1, moved to 141 before becoming leg-spinner Shreyas Gopal's second wicket.
Though Baby and Saxena were dismissed before Kerala reached 300, skipper Sijomon Joseph (24) with help from No.11 Nidheesh MD (22, 2x4s, 1x6) made sure the team made 342.
India Test discard Agarwal then overcame the early loss of fellow opener R Samarth (0) to forge an 89-run stand for the second wicket with Devdutt Padikkal (29) to lay a good foundation for the visiting team.
Agarwal hit four boundaries and three sixes in his unbeaten 87 as Karnataka finished the day at 137 for 2, still trailing Kerela by 205 runs.
Desai spins out Vidarbha
Nagpur: Left-arm spinner Siddharth Desai shone bright with a six-wicket haul to put Gujarat on the verge of victory against Vidarbha on the second day of their Group D match.
On an action-filled day, Gujarat resumed at 188 for five before being bowled out for 256, giving the visiting side a 182-run lead.
Aarya Desai (88) and Bhargav Merai (40) were the main contributors in Gujarat's total, while left-arm spinner Aditya Sarwate (5/64) was the best bowler for Vidarbha.
In the second innings, Jitesh Sharma (69) top-scored for the home team and there were useful contributions from Atharva Taide (44), Nachiket Bhute (42) and Akshay Wadkar (34), but they were bowled out for 254 in 65.5 overs.
The 22-year old Siddharth did the star turn for Gujarat, picking up six wickets including that of Wadkar, Bhute and Sanjay Ramaswamy (18).
Requiring 73 runs for victory, Gujarat were on 6 for 1, losing Priyesh Patel for a duck. The visitors need 67 more runs for an outright win.
Meanwhile in Mohali, Punjab had defending champions Madhya Pradesh in trouble, reducing them to 150 for 6 at stumps on day two after piling up 443, thanks to a superb double ton by Nehal Wadhera (214).