Delhi batsmen failed to click again as Railways took control of the Ranji Trophy Elite Group 'A' league match after reducing them to 198 for 6 in the second innings on the third day at the Karnail Singh stadium in Delhi on Tuesday.
Barring former skipper Vijay Dahiya (61) and Pradeeep Chawla (batting 48), no other Delhi batsman could stay long enough at the crease.
With four wickets in hand, Delhi now have a lead of 159 runs over Railways, who earlier stretched their overnight first innings score of 200 for 9 before being all out for 234.
At stumps, Sarandeep Singh, on three, was giving company to Chawla.
Harvinder Singh was the wrecker-in-chief for Railways, claiming three wickets, including the prized scalp of skipper and first innings saviour Mithun Manhas, who was trapped leg before for only eight.
Delhi coach Madan Lal acknowledged that it is now up to Chawla and the tailenders to save the match.
"We need to bat at least two more hours in the morning tomorrow. Anything less than 200 will be an achievable target for them," said Lal.
But it appears an uphill task for the tailenders as Railways will certainly take the new ball in the morning and defying the likes of Harvinder, Zakir Hussain and Sanjay Bangar for long may not be an easy task for Sarandeep Singh, Abhishek Sharma, Kunal Lal and Sanjay Gill.
In the second innings, opener Pururaj Singh, whose selection raised many eyebrows, failed with the bat yet again as he was snapped in the slips by Sanjay Bangar off Harvinder. He stayed at the crease for an hour for his six runs.
Salil Oberoi and Dahiya took the score from 22 to 75 before the former was dismissed by Hussain for 36.
After Manhas got out at 97, Dahiya and Chawla tried to steady the ship with a partnership of 61 as Delhi took tea at a healthy-looking 143 for three.
But three wickets in the post-tea session including that of Dahiya, who was caught behind off off-spinner Shreyas Khanolkar, forced Delhi again on the backfoot.
Scoreboard:
Delhi 1st innings: 195
Railways 1st innings:
A Pagnis c Dahiya b Kunal 9
S Bangar c Dahiya b Kunal 42
T P Singh run out 47
J P Yadav lbw b Negi 16
Yere Goud c Dahiya b Negi 36
S Verma b Abhishek Sharma 2
S Khanolkar c Dahiya b Gill 18
S Wankhede c Pururaj b Sarandeep 7
Harvinder Singh c Varun b Kunal 9
Z Hussain c Pururaj b Abhishek 17
K Parida not out 17
Extras: (lb-5, nb-9) 14
Total (all out, 82.5 overs) 234
Fall of wickets: 1-13, 2-109, 3-110, 4-127, 5-131, 6-156, 7-172, 8-200, 9-200.
Bowling: Sanjay Gill 22-12-49-1, Kunal Lal 20-4-75-3, N S Negi 26-9-61-2, Sarandeep Singh 7-1-28-1, Abhishek Sharma 7.5-1-16-2.
Delhi 2nd innings
S Oberoi c Wankhede b Hussain 36
Pururaj Singh c Bangar b Harvinder 6
V Dahiya c Wankhede b Khanolkar 61
M Manhas lbw b Harvinder 8
P Chawla batting 48
Varun Kumar lbw b Harvinder 4
N S Negi lbw b Parida 10
Sarandeep Singh batting 3
Extras: (b-6, lb-14, nb-2) 22
Total (for 6 wkts, 82.1 overs) 198
Fall of wickets: 1-22, 2-75, 3-97, 4-158, 5-175, 6-190.
Bowling: Hussain 11-3-31-1, Bangar 16-4-35-0, Harvinder Singh 18-4-38-3, Parida 23-6-46-1, J P Yadav 8-0-14-0, Khanolkar 6-1-14-1, T P Singh 0.1-0-0-0.
