Best batting performances

Manvanth Kumar continued his dream run with another century, while Aneeshwar Gautam added 83, leaving Karnataka with an enormous 442-run lead. Assam’s Denish Das was the only to manage a fifty, as they succumbed to an innings and 314-run loss.

Delhi’s in-form batter Sumit Mathur, who had posted a steady recovery alongside Ayush Dodeja against Services overnight, fell one short of a century. In response, Mohit Ahlawat (142) put Services in a strong position, supported by fifties from Ravi Chauhan and captain Rajat Paliwal.

Captain Vishnu Vinod top-scored with 66, but couldn’t prevent Kerala from following-on against Gujarat. Keeper Mohammed Azharuddeen and Aditya Sarvate struck half-centuries as well.

Rajasthan captain Kartik Sharma hit 63 to further strengthen their lead against Himachal Pradesh, before a brisk 86 from Kunal Rathore and a fifty from Vishal Harish put them in prime position at the end of day three.

Chattisgarh keeper Mayank Verma struck a crucial 81 to ensure they had enough to challenge Hyderabad in the fourth innings. Aside from Sanjeet Desai (51), no other batter crossed 20, until No.11 Dharmendrasinh Jadeja chipped in with a vital 37-ball 38.

J&K openers Shubham Khajuria (190) and Qamran Iqbal (160) capitalised on their strong start to put on a mammoth 334-run first-wicket stand. Despite a slight stutter, they still enjoy a commanding position, ending the day on 491/5 against Puducherry.

After Punjab declared on 592/9, Andhra’s response was led by Shaik Rasheed, who struck his sixth first-class century, forging an unbeaten 169-run stand with Karan Shinde (73).

Mumbai openers Divyaansh Saxena and Angkrish Raghuvanshi put on a 146-run stand, before they lost four wickets for 17 runs. At stumps, their lead stood at 311 runs.

The day’s streak of strong opening stands was followed by UP’s Adarsh Singh and Madhav Kaushik as well. The two put on a triple-century partnership, and No.3 Aryan Juyal added to it with 67, but the innings trailed off in the second half. At stumps, they stood at 455/8 against Baroda.

Manipur’s 20-year-old all-rounder Jotin Pheiroijam struck 137 from No.6, stabilising them against Sikkim. Yet, they ended the day 224 runs behind Sikkim, who ended the day on 81/0.

Chinmay Sutar top-scored for Mizoram with 175, putting them in the driver’s seat against Arunachal Pradesh with a 286-run first-innings lead.

Best bowling performances

Brothers Mohammed Shami (4 for 37) and Kaif (2-36) ran through Maharashtra in the second innings, before Shahbaz Ahmed cleaned up the tail after lower-order resistance. Maharashtra still recovered from 64/6 to post 218. Bengal were reduced to 76/4 in the second innings, leading by a run.

Shreyas Gopal (4 for 34) and Shikhar Shetty (3 for 33) headlined Karnataka’s huge innings win, combining to dismiss them for another sub-150 total.

Goa also inflicted an innings defeat on Bihar, led by a five-fer by Lalit Yadav. Yash Kasvankar assisted him with three wickets. Bihar’s poor batting mirrored their first innings performance, as they managed 107 and 113 across the two innings.

Tamil Nadu's Ajith Ram, who hit a century in the first innings, troubled Chandigarh with the ball as well, taking four out of the seven wickets to fall while following-on. Earlier, Sonu Yadav had finished with 4 for 18 to bundle them out for 94 in the first innings.

Arzan Nagwaswalla and Chintan Gaja combined to take seven wickets, forcing Kerala to follow-on in the face of an imposing first-innings total by Gujarat.

Hyderabad’s Rakshan Readdi and Gangam Anikethreddy shared six wickets between them, helping keep Chattisgarh’s lead in check. Dev Aditya Singh then took two quick wickets to leave Hyderabad at 13/2, setting up an interesting chase that still needs 246 runs.

A fast-moving game hangs heavily in Tripura’s favour, despite them being all out for 191 in the second innings. Parvez Sultan took 5 for 25, while off-spinner Sandip Sarkar, who took 4 for 48 in the first innings, added a further four. Saurashtra still need 211 to win with just three wickets in hand.

Mahesh Pithiya’s five-fer helped Baroda claw back against UP: from 309/0, they went down to 397/5, losing three more wickets by Stumps.

Vidarbha’s spin pair of Harsh Dubey and Parth Rekhade cut through Madhya Pradesh, leaving nothing for the rest of the bowlers. They took five each, as MP were shot out for 105, handing Vidarbha an innings win.

Nishant Sindhu’s five-fer, and Kanishk Chouhan’s four ignited a dramatic Uttarakhand collapse: they slid from 223/1 to 305 all out. However, Haryana could only follow up their first-innings total of 153 with 159. It left Uttarakhand with just nine runs to chase, securing a ten-wicket win.

Sikkim’s left-arm spinner Satyajeet Bachhav claimed six for 50, ensuring a comfortable lead over Manipur going into the final day.