A century from opener Jai P Yadav and handy contributions from Harvinder Singh, Zakir Hussain and Shreyas Khanolkar helped Railways secure the vital first innings lead on the third day of the Irani Trophy. The Ranji Trophy champions made 316, which gained them a lead of 50 runs. The Rest of India openers, however, made a strong start, wiping out the lead while putting on 84 runs for the unbroken first wicket before stumps were drawn.

Railways made a poor start to the day when Jacob Martin was dismissed after having added just one run to his overnight score of 25. Yohannan, who dismissed the veteran batsman, went on to strike another vital blow when he removed No. 6 Raja Ali with the next ball. Khanolkar, who replaced Ali, managed to prevent the hat-trick, but by the time Yohannan had completed his over, Rest of India were on top with Railways being reduced to 136-5.

Khanolkar's confident outing with the bat against the West Indies, though, helped him to provide Yadav with the support he needed to resuscitate the Railways innings. The duo put on a vital 68 runs for the sixth wicket before Khanolkar was dismissed for 36.

Yadav, for his part, went on to complete a well-deserved ton before he was eighth man out with the score on 209. At that stage, Railways were once again in danger of conceding a lead, but a hard-hitting 59 off 83 balls by Harvinder, an innings that included as many as five sixes, propelled them to 316 all out.

Openers Akash Chopra and Wasim Jaffer, who had put on 90 runs for the opening wicket in the first innnings, continued the good work when Rest batted for the second time. The duo put on 84 runs before play ended. Chopra was batting on 41 while Jaffer was on 38.

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