At stumps on the third day, hosts Tamil Nadu were in deep trouble at 48 for two in their second innings after being bowled out for 93 in their first essay, thanks to Pandey’s 5/35 and his pace bowling colleague Sahil Raj, who also finished with exceptional figures of 4/21 in 13.4 overs.

Jharkhand rode on their skipper Ishan Kishan’s monumental 173 to pile up 419 all out in their first innings after being 157 for six at one stage on Wednesday. With the young pace duo of Pandey and Raj combining to take nine wickets between them to pack off Tamil Nadu for 93, Jharkhand grabbed a huge first-innings lead of 326 runs and invited the home team to bat again on a pitch that offered some assistance with the new ball.

When the stumps were drawn for the day, Tamil Nadu were trailing by 274 runs with Jeganathan Hemchudeshan and C Andre Siddarth batting on identical 3.

Resuming the day at a precarious 18 for five, Tamil Nadu could add just 75 runs to their overnight total with debutant and India U-19 star RS Ambrish making 28 off 44 balls, their highest scorer in a pathetic performance with the bat.