Delhi escaped a middle order collapse to remain on course for a first innings lead after reaching 265 for six against Tamil Nadu on the second day of the Ranji Trophy Super League encounter in Chennai on Wednesday.

Delhi's top order batsmen made good contributions to help their team reach 265 for six, three short of Tamil Nadu's first innings total.

Earlier, the hosts, resuming at their overnight 250 for 9, were all out for 268 in 96.2 overs.

Delhi's top three batsmen -- Akash Chopra (55), Gautham Gambhir (84) and S Dhawan (59) -- provided a solid base for their team.

Gambhir was dropped by Vijay at slip off Ramkumar when he was on 18. But then he stroked well, hitting 16 fours in his 108-ball knock.

He top scored with 84 in 162 minutes at the crease and put on 141 for the opening wicket with Chopra in 35.2 overs.

At one stage, Delhi were 169/3 and Dhawan and Virat Kohli (19-3 fours) added 55 runs in 20.1 overs for the fourth wicket before the latter was caught by Mukund at midwicket off Ramkumar.

Delhi lost two quick wickets-- Rajat Bhatia (10) and Dhawan with the score reading 252 for 6.

At close, wicket-keeper Puneet Bisht (14) and Pradeep Sangwan (2) were at the crease.

For Tamil Nadu left arm spinner, C Suresh (4 for 65) and off spinner, Ramkumar (2 for 89) were the wicket-takers.

Scorecard:

Tamil Nadu (1st innings, overnight 250/9):
A Mukund c Chopra b Nanda 51
M Vijay lbw b Bhatia 77
S Badrinath lbw b Nanda 9
K Sri Vasudevadas b Nanda 0
R Srinivasan c Bisht b Bhatia 23
Sureshkumar c Bisht b Awana 20
K Gopinath c Nanda b Narender Singh 13
R Ramkumar c Bisht b Sangwan 32
Yeo Mahesh c Bisht b Awana 8
C Suresh lbw b Bhatia 14
P Amarnath not out 7
Extras: (b-4, lb-5, nb-5) 14
Total: (all out in 96.2 overs) 268

Fall of wickets: 1-127, 2-143, 3-143, 4-157, 5-173, 6-201, 7-219, 8-238, 9-250, 10-268

Bowling: P Sangwan 22-8-48-2, P Awana 16-2-58-1, N Singh 21-4-72-1, R Bhatia 14.2-5-16-3, C Nanda 22-5-65-3, M Minhas 1-1-0-0

Delhi (1st innings):
A Chopra c S Das b C Suresh 55
G Gambhir c Mukund b C Suresh 84
S Dhawan c Badrinath b C Suresh 59
M Manhas c Gopinath b Ramkumar 12
V Kohli c Mukund b Ramkumar 19
R Bhatia c Vijay b C Suresh 10
P Bisht batting 14
P Sangwan batting 2
Extras: (B-6, W-1, Nb-3) 10
Total: (for six wickets in 81 overs) 265

Fall of wickets:1-141, 2-146, 3-169, 4-224, 5-237, 6-252

Bowling: Yeo Mahesh 14-4-51-0, P Amarnath 11-1-34-0, R Ramkumar 28-3-89-2, S Kumar 4-0-20-0, C Suresh 24-4-65-4