At close on Day 3, Maharashtra, after conceding a first innings lead of 344 runs, were 187/3 in their second essay — still 157 runs shy of making Vidarbha bat again on the final day with 7 wickets standing.
Vidarbha pacer Aditya Thakare, who had earlier made a whirlwind unbeaten 39 off as many balls with five fours and two sixes in their mammoth total of 552, also struck two quick blows to reduce Maharashtra to 35/2.
But M. Trunkwala (86) and Digvijay Patil arrested the slide with a 108-run partnership for the third wicket. The former was dismissed by Yash Thakur late in the day but Patil was going strong on 61 in the company of A. Palkar (17).
BRIEF SCORES:
Maharashtra 1st innings: 208 in 56.4 overs
Vidarbha 1st innings 552 all out in 126.2 overs (D Shorey 92, A Wadkar 90, Karun Nair 129, Harsh Dubey 46, Aditya Thakare 39 n.o.)
Maharashtra 2nd innings 187/3 in 59 overs (M Trunkwala 86, Digvijay Patil batting 61; A Thakare 2/32)
Match situation: Maharashtra trail by 157 runs