Maheshwari picked up six wickets for 30 runs to trigger a collapse as Karnataka slipped from 144/2 at one stage to 197 all out, thereby conceding a huge first-innings lead of 253.
Vidarbha chose not to enforce the follow-on and were 203/2 in their second innings at close on Day 3. Malewar was batting on a splendid 136 and opener Zubairoddin was on 60. The duo has so far added 186 runs for the third wicket, having joined forces on 17/2. The hosts now enjoy an overall lead of 456 runs with eight wickets standing and will dictate the terms on the last day as they eye a berth in the final.
Brief scores: At Close Day 3
Vidarbha 1st innings 450 in 127.4 overs (Neel Athaley 162, Rohit Binkar 65, Zubaioddin 29, Danish Malewar 24, Jagjot Singh 94, Dharmendra Thakur 48; Mohsin Khan 2/80, Aaditya Nair 3/50, Hardik Raj 3/101)
Karnataka 197 all out in 89.5 overs (Swaroop Hippargi 74, Prakar Chaturvedi 66; Pratham Maheshwari 6/30, Gaurav Farde 3/65)
Vidarbha 2nd innings 202/3 in 45 overs (Danish Malewar 136 batting, Zubairoddin 60 batting)