Haryana seized the upper hand against Maharashtra on the third day of their Ranji Trophy Group C encounter here on Wednesday, having reduced their opponents to 61 for five in the second innings.
Skipper Harshal Patel did the star turn for Haryana, taking four wickets in the first innings, as Maharashtra were all out for 247. Patel added two more wickets to his kitty in the second innings as Maharashtra trailed by 93 runs.
Resuming at 88 for 4, Maharashtra skipper Naushad Shaik (60) defied the home team attack, even as wickets regularly fell at the other end. A N Kazi (36) and A B Dandekar (30) were the others to make useful contributions.
After Tinu Kundu ended Shaik's innings, Kazi and Dandekar helped Maharashtra push the score to 247.
In the second innings, Maharashtra were rocked early by Patel, who got SM Gugale (0) and CG Khurana (0) with the team score on zero.
The in-form Ruturaj Gaikwad (7, 26 balls) and Shaik added 41 runs for the third wicket before Kundu dismissed the former.
Haryana's first innings total of 401 was built on superb tons by opener Shubham Rohilla (142) and middle-order batsman Shivam Chauhan (117).
Brief Scores: