Captain Ayush Badoni’s best-ever bowling performance of 5/69 which included the key dismissal of Hyderabad skipper Tilak Varma put Delhi in a strong position for a first-innings lead after Day 3 of their Ranji Trophy Group D clash on Friday. Responding to Delhi’s huge total of 529/4 declared Hyderabad ended the day at 400 for 7 still trailing by 130 runs. Senior batter Rohit Rayudu was dismissed on the final ball of the day. Despite the pitch at the Next-Gen Ground being good for batting Hyderabad now rely on wicketkeeper Rahul Radesh who is unbeaten on 41 along with the lower-order batsmen to close the gap. Earlier in the day Hyderabad’s batters showed attacking intent scoring 323 runs. Opener Tanmay Agarwal led the way with a brilliant 132 hitting 15 boundaries. He shared a solid 140-run partnership with Gangam Anikethreddy who made 87. At 205 for 1 Hyderabad appeared to be in control. But Badoni turned things around with his off-spin. His bowling was particularly effective because seven of Hyderabad’s top eight were left-handers. He cleverly used the angle to move the ball away and sometimes got it to go straight after pitching. He first lured Anikethreddy out of his crease with a well-flighted delivery and had him stumped. A few balls later he dismissed Tilak Varma trapping him leg-before with a delivery bowled from around the wicket. After Hyderabad slipped to 205 for 3 they put together two more half-century partnerships. Tanmay added 57 with Kodimela Himateja for the fourth wicket and 65 with Radesh for the fifth. However Badoni’s clever use of angles against the left-handers continued to trouble them. He got Himateja out lbw with one that didn’t turn. The big breakthrough Tanmay Agarwals wicket was taken by Arpit Rana who trapped him leg-before. Hyderabad’s position would have been slightly better had Rohit Rayudu cousin of former India batter Ambati Rayudu not been bowled by Badoni right at the end of the day.