An unbeaten double hundred from opener Gautam Gambhir and his 336-run partnership with Mithun Minhas (158) put Delhi in an impregnable position at the end of the third day of their elite group match against Railways. The duo's sterling contribution helped the hosts pile up 507-4 declared in reply to the Railways first innings total of 205 at the Feroz Shah Kotla. Railways, who are the defending Ranji champions, were 90-1 in their second essay. They now need to bat out the final day to avoid an embarassing defeat.

Mumbai, who have won the Ranji Trophy on the most number of occasions, meanwhile, continued their fightback against Hyderabad at the Gymkhana Ground, Secunderabad. At the end of the third day, it was the hosts who were battling to avoid defeat after Mumbai made 337 in their second essay. Hyderabad, who had been set 306 for a win, were struggling at 110-5. Leg-spinner Sairaj Bahatule, who claimed 3-14 in his nine-over spell, was the wrecker-in-chief for Mumbai.

In another elite group encounter at Mohali, a century from opener Ravneet Ricky saw hosts Punjab extend their overall lead over Ranji Trophy runners-up to 298 runs with four second innings wickets in hand. Pankaj Dharmani made 59 and captain Reetinder Singh 42, as the hosts reached 269-6 in their second essay. Left-arm spinner Valmik Buch, who claimed 5-66, was the most successful bowler for Baroda.

Hosts Assam, for their part, had a satisfactory third day's outing against Orissa at the North-East Frontier Railway Stadium, Guwahati. Overnight not out batsmen Manoj Joglekar and Kiran Powar completed hundreds, while captain Syed Zuffri and Sukhvinder Singh made 31 and 31 not out respectively, to ensure that the their team eked out a 17-run lead with three first-innings wickets in hand. For Orissa, medium-pacer Ajay Barik claimed four wickets.

An unbeaten 125-run fourth wicket partnership between Nikhil Doru (77*) and PR Krishnakumar (57*) ensured that Rajastan remained in the hunt for the first-innings lead in their match against Bengal at Eden Gardens. The visitors replied with 200-3 after Bengal were dismissed for 413. With just a day's play remaining, the match is, then, intriguingly poised.

In the only other elite group match, Andhra crawled to 133-3 in their first innings after dismissing Himachal Pradesh for 321. Yelhanka Venugopal Rao on 39 and MSK Prasad on 21 were the two not out batsmen.

Hirwani leads Madhya Pradesh's fightback

Leg-spinner Narender Hirwani claimed five wickets while medium-pacer Sanjay Pandey snared three victims, as Madhya Pradesh skittled Haryana out for 110 in the second innings in the plate group encounter between the two sides being played at the Maharaja Agarsingh Stadium, Rohtak. Chasing 175 for victory on a difficult wicket, the hosts, however, were in some trouble at 5-2.

Earlier, Madhya Pradesh had conceded a 61-run lead after being dismissed for 272 in their first innings. Medium-pacer Joginder Singh, who claimed 5-65, was the most successful bowler for Haryana.

Karnataka, meanwhile, continued their fine showing against Maharashtra, making 282-4 in their second essay after securing a 53-run first innings lead. Opener Jacob Arunkumar, who made 112, and wicket-keeper Thilak Naidu, who made an unbeaten 60, were the batting heroes for the visitors on the third day of the match being played at the Nehru Stadium, Pune.

In the last plate group match, Bihar made a slow reply, reaching 142-2 in their first innings. Earlier, Jammu and Kashir finally declared their first innings at 528-8. Ashwani Gupta, who resumed on 188 not out, went on to complete a well-deserved double-ton, ending up with 203 not out.

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