Ghaziabad: Laxmipathy Balaji’s five-wicket haul (5/42) after Dinesh Karthik’s double century (213) made a memorable day for Tamil Nadu as they thumped Uttar Pradesh by an innings and 238 runs on the third day of their Ranji Trophy Elite division match here on Tuesday.

In Rajkot, Cheteshwar Pujara’s 182-ball 189 and Sitanshu Kotak’s patient knock of 102 helped Saurashtra score 405 for four wickets against Punjab.

In Sambalpur, Orissa left-arm spinner Dhiraj Singh picked seven wickets on debut and it was largely his bowling that forced Rajasthan to concede a crucial first innings lead in the Group A tie.

In reply to Orissa’s first innings total of 281, Rajasthan were bundled out for 270 with Dhiraj claiming seven for 83. Former India batsman Gagan Khoda scored 127 for Rajasthan.

Assured of three points on the basis of a slender 11-run lead, Orissa were banking, yet again, on former India opener Shiv Sundar Das, who was batting on 57 when stumps were drawn on the penultimate day.

Giving him company was nightwatchman Pritamjeet Das (1) as Orissa recovered from an early shudder to finish the day at 109 for three.

Having claimed two wickets Monday, Dhiraj added five more on the spin-assisting track to take his first innings tally to seven.

It was another spinner, Paresh Patel, who, in fact, gave the early breakthrough with Rajasthan cruising on Khoda’s knock.

Resuming at the overnight score of 172 for two, Rajasthan lost their first wicket when Patel trapped Robin Bist (43) to break the 111-run third-wicket partnership with Khoda.

The breakthrough somewhat revived Orissa spinners as soon after Dhiraj began his wicket-taking spree, beginning with centurion Khoda, trapped leg before to end his 290-ball innings. Khoda hit 18 boundaries in his six-hour plus stay at the crease.

In Mysore, 17 wickets fell on the third day. Rahul Dravid scored a 50 in the second innings.

Summarised scores

In Delhi: Mumbai 330 & 149/0 (Kukreja 77 batting, Jaffer 71 batting) vs Delhi 295 (M. Manhas 98, R. Bhatia 81; S. Bahutule 3/44, R. Powar 3/54). Match to continue.

In Delhi: Railways 224 vs Baroda 460/8 (A. Bilakhia, C. Williams 137). Match to continue.

In Ghaziabad: Uttar Pradesh 150 & 119 vs Tamil Nadu 507 (D. Karthik 213; P. Gupta 4/123). Tamil Nadu won by an innings and 238 runs.

In Motera: Gujarat 560/9 decl. & 45/3 (A. Trivedi 3/16) vs Hyderabad 225 (A. Quadri 57; A. Trivedi 4/44). Match to continue.

In Mysore: Karnataka 366 & 171 (Dravid 50; Vijaykumar 6/51) vs Andhra 218 (M. Sai 70, Suresh 54; Joshi 5/41) and 28/4. Match to continue.

In Rajkot: Punjab 482 vs Saurashtra 405/4 (S. Kotak 102, C. Pujara 189). Match to continue.

In Sambalpur: Orissa 281 & 109/3 (S.S. Das 57 batting) vs Rajasthan 270 (G. Khoda 127; Dhiraj 7/83). Match to continue. (Agencies)