At the end of the second day's play, Maharashtra were in a strong position against Karnataka in their Cooch Behar Trophy pre quarterfinal encounter at the Nehru Stadium at Pune on Saturday. Resuming on 301/7 the home team's Under-19 side managed a healthy 381 as the tail wagged merrily. KP Adhav, coming in at No 9, made a valiant 39 (94 minutes, 69 balls, five fours) while No 10 MS Palkhede made 28 with four boundaries.

The home side then reduced Karnataka to 182 for eight at the end of the second of three days. The wickets were shared around equally, with Adhav, Kashinath Kadkikar and SM Kamathe scalping two wickets apiece. For the visitors, only opener DV Krishna (39) offered the only opposition. Wickets fell at regular intervals, the highest partnership being 64 for the third wicket. When tailenders SV Lazarus (19 not out) and M Dharmichand (12 not out) come out to bat tomorrow, they will have to perform a miracle if they want to avoid conceding the first innings lead.

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