Continuing his good form, seamer Domnic Joseph took three more Vidarbha wickets today to put Maharashtra in a commanding position as they will look for an outright win on the final day of their Group B Ranji trophy cricket match here tomorrow.
After forcing a follow-on yesterday, Maharashtra today tightened the screw further on Vidarbha, reducing them to 274 for six in 100 overs, despite fine half centuries by Shalabh Shrivastava (54) and Ravi Jangid (66).
Joseph (3/40) was the most successsful bowler for Maharashtra, while Samad Fallah (1/41), Nikit Dhumal (1/67) and Chirag Khurana (1/28) took one wicket each.
At stumps, Urvesh Patel (44) and Shrikant Wagh (23) were at the crease at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, with Vidarbha leading by just 46 runs and four wickets remaining.
Shrivastava and Jangid shared a valuable 94-run partnership for the fifth wicket to ressurect Vibarbha's second innings after they were reduced to 83-4 in 42.3 overs.
Jangid then forged 59 runs with Patel before being dismissed by Fallah in the 91st over.
Resuming their second innings at 26 for no loss, Vidarbha suffered a twin blow early on, losing opener Sachin Katariya (12) and Ganesh Satish (0) in the 16th over bowled by Joseph.
Joseph then dismissed opener Faiz Fazal (41), while skipper S Badrinath (29) too could not capitalise on a good start as he was caught behind on Dhumal's delivery.
Khurana then broke the stand between Shrivastava and Jangid in the 63rd over, while Fallah send the latter in the 91st over.
Brief Score:
Maharashtra 342
Vidarbha 114 & 274/6 (f/o) in 100 overs (R Jangid 66; Domnic Joseph 3/40).
