Ranji Trophy 2017, Round 4: Palam security lapse fails to overshadow Agarwal's maiden triple ton on Day 3

New Delhi: The bizarre Palam security lapse controversy failed to overshadow Day 3 of Ranji Trophy fourth round clashes on Friday with Karnataka batsman Mayank Agarwal`s scoring his maiden First-class triple century.

Group A clash between Delhi and Uttar Pradesh at Palam ground came to an unusual halt in the final session of day's play after a man drove his car onto the field and into the pitch.

Uttar Pradesh piled up 224 runs in their second innings at stumps after bowling Delhi out for 269.

But the day belonged to Agarwal, who notched up an unbeaten 304 off 494 balls that included 28 fours and four sixes to guide Karnataka to 628/5 declared against Maharashtra in another Group A encounter in Pune.

The 26-year-old had earlier put on 259 for the opening wicket with R Samarth (129) on the second day.

In Group B, Saurashtra rode on India star Cheteshwar Pujara`s double century to score a mammoth 553 runs in their first innings before bowling out Jharkhand for 270.

Ishank Jaggi high scored with 114 runs and Ishan Kishan smashed a half-century (59), but none of their fellow batsmen held on to help the team avoid following on.

After being asked to follow-on, Jharkhand`s opener Md Nazim Siddiqui, with nothing to lose, started explosively and completed his half-century at a strike rate of over 150.

However, with only one day of the play left, it`s highly unlikely that Saurashtra will let this one slip away and will hope to bowl Jharkhand out as soon as possible.

In Group C, Mumbai had gained a healthy first innings lead against Odisha, thanks to Prithvi Shaw`s century and then a brilliant team effort to dismiss the hosts for 145.

Subsequently, in their second innings, Siddharth Lad`s century ensured Mumbai give Odisha a mammoth total of 413 to chase. Ajinkya Rahane, though, fell for a duck in the second innings.

In reply, Odisha had added 93 runs by the end of day`s play for the loss of four wickets. They still need 320 more runs on the final day to win the match.

In Group D, pacer Ashoke Dinda`s five-wicket haul helped hosts Bengal bundle Himachal Pradesh for 206 in their first innings in reply to Bengal`s 419.

In their second essay, HP are 207/2 at the end of the day`s play as the match looks to be heading for a tame draw.

(With IANS inputs)