Kshitiz Sharma, whose place in the playing eleven was questioned, silenced his critics with a gritty 103 that helped Delhi post a mammoth 623 in the first innings of their Ranji Trophy match against Rajasthan at Feroz Shah Kotla on Thursday.
Sharma, who played for Arunachal last season, stitched a 196-run stand with Kunwar Bidhuri who too reached the three figures scoring 115 off just 135 balls.
Delhi had resumed day two at 389 for six and ended up adding 234 runs. The hosts maintained a decent run rate of 4.23 in the innings lasting 147 overs.
In response, Rajasthan were under the pump at 115 for four, trailing Delhi by 508 runs at close of play. They clearly have a mountain to climb in their last league game.
Ashok Menaria (38) and Rajesh Bishnoi (23) were at the crease at the draw of stumps.
Leggie Rahul Chahar (5/161) picked a five-wicket haul for Rajasthan.
Virtually out of the quarterfinal race, Delhi need other results to go their way and a big win over Rajasthan to remain in the hunt for a knockout berth.
In Patiala, Punjab, resuming the day at 93 for three, just about managed to take a 13-run first innings lead against Bengal after being bowled out for 151. Bengal were bundled out for 138 on day one.
Left-arm spinner Shahbaz Ahmed wreaked havoc on day two, running through Punjab batting to bring his team back into the game.
At stumps, Bengal were 199 for nine, leading Punjab by 186 runs.
TN seizes advantage
Rajkot: Tamil Nadu wicket-keeper batsman Narayan Jagadeesan came up with a gritty 183 to help his team post a competitive total of 424 on the second day of Elite Group B game against Saurashtra.
Then Tamil Nadu hit back to reduce Saurashtra to 107 for 3, as the hosts are still adrift by 317 runs.
After Saurashtra led by their skipper Jaydev Unadkat took honours on the opening day by restricting Tamil Nadu to 250 for 7, it was Jagadeesan, who pulled the side out of trouble, by notching up his fourth first-class 100.
He hammered 22 fours and five other hits over the fence in his 256-ball knock.
For Saurashtra, Unadkat (6-73) grabbed another five- wicket haul and emerged as the most successful bowler.
Meanwhile at the Wankhede, in an inconsequential game, Mumbai posted a massive 427 on the board in their first essay against Madhya Pradesh.
Sarfaraz, who has had a dream run this season, however fell 23 runs short of a double hundred.
He already has a triple, double and now a hundred to his name this season.
Then Mumbai bowlers reduced Madhya Pradesh to 200/7, still adrift by 227 runs.
In Bengaluru, Baroda are marginally ahead by 60 runs, but hosts Karnataka can sniff victory having taken five Baroda wickets in their second essay and still two days left.
Goa storm into q/f
Kolkata: Goa cantered into the quarterfinals with an innings and 211-run win over Mizoram in their Plate Group clash at the CC&FC ground. All-rounder Amit Verma once again led by example as he followed up his century with a 5/39 in the second innings of Mizoram who folded for 170 after following-on to suffer the defeat inside two days.
Nineteen wickets tumbled on the extended second day with Mizoram skipper KB Pawan waging a lone battle remaining unbeaten on 111, even as seven of their batsmen failed to reach double digits in their second innings.
Lakshay Garg and Amulya Pandrekar claimed three wickets each, while Verma was at his tidy best with figures of 2/2 from 4.2 overs as Mizoram’s first innings succumbed to 109 inside 41 overs.
Goa topped the table with an unassailable 50 points to secure the lone knockout berth from the Plate Group.