Cuttack: Mumbai pace spearhead Shardul Thakur once again struck early to leave Delhi in tatters at 110 for four in their 440-run chase on Day IV of their Ranji Trophy quarter final tie, on Thursday.

After opener Akhil Hedwarkar's 161-run marathon knock, which took Mumbai to 450 in the second innings, the Aditya Tare-led side tore into the Delhi top-order with Shardul, who had scalped five in the first innings, picking up two wickets so far in the second innings.

Resuming on their overnight score of 367 for seven, Mumbai were helped with hard-working partnerships in the end as Shardul (20)and Harmeet Singh (30) contributed with valuable knocks.

Left-arm spinner Manan Sharma was the most impressive Delhi bowler with four wickets in his 30 overs with an economy rate of 3.06.

But Mumbai's Shardul has certainly been the bowler of the match so far as the pacer trapped skipper Gautam Gambhir (34) leg before and then scalped Mithun Manhas for a duck.

Medium-pacer Wilkin Mota also chipped in with two wickets to clean up Unmukt Chand (31) and send Shivam Sharma back in the hut for nought.

In Indore, Assam have been left with more than a mountain to climb against defending champions Karnataka.

Karnataka have virtually assured themselves a place in the semi-finals, after setting a near impossible 683-run target for Assam, on the fourth and penultimate day of the match, on Thursday.

Resuming their second innings at the overnight score of 137 for two, Karanataka rode on opener Ravikumar Samarth's (178) second first-class century, Robin Uthappa's 77 off 172 balls and Karun Nair's 49 to post 415 for five in 115 overs before declaring.

In Jaipur, Dinesh Karthik (64) and Vijay Shankar (82) hit half-centuries to ward off a scare caused by an inspired spell by Vidarbha's SS Bandiwar (331).

Tamil Nadu, who scored 403 in the first innings, Thursday bundled out Vidarbha for 259 in their first essay to take 144-run lead.

In their second innings, Tamil Nadu reached 193 for six at the close of play, and increased their overall lead to 337 runs with four wickets still remaining. At stumps on the penultimate day, M Rangarajan (3) and B Indrajith (6) were at the crease.

Earlier, resuming on 206 for six, Vidarbha could add just 53 more runs to their overnight total before getting all out, to concede a huge first-innings lead. For Tamil Nadu, A Ashwin Crist (356) and M Rangarajan (342) were the pick of the bowlers.

SUMMARISED SCORES

n In Cuttack: Mumbai 156 & 450 (A. Herwadkar 161, S. Iyer 82; M. Sharma 492). Delhi 166 & 1104 (G. Gambhir 34, R. Bhatia 25 n.o.; S. Thakur 243).

? In Indore: Karnataka 452 and 4155 decl, (R. Samarth 178, R.Uthappa 77; Arup Das 263).Assam 185 and 320

? In Jaipur: Tamil Nadu 403 & 1936 (V. Shankar 82, D. Karthik 62; SS Bandiwar 331). Vidarbha 259 (A Ashwin Crist 356, M Rangarajan 342).

All matches to continue