Spinner Rajesh Sharma picked three wickets as Sri Lanka 'A' were left fighting to stave off an innings defeat on the fourth day of the Duleep Trophy final against North Zone, in Kolkata, on Wednesday.

The Sri Lankans were 259 for 4 in their second innings at close of play, needing another 81 runs to save themselves the ignominy of an innings loss at the Eden Gardens.

Earlier, resuming at the overnight score of 629 for 7, North Zone declared their first innings at a mammoth 636 for 7 after three overs in the morning, stretching their lead to 340 runs.

Sri Lanka 'A' had scored 296 in their first essay.

North Zone skipper Mithun Manhas waited for his wicketkeeper-batsman Rawat to complete a hundred (104 not out; 201 b, 263 mins, 13 x 4) before inviting the Lankans to bat again.

Rawat became the third centurion in the innings, after Aakash Chopra (188) and Ravneet Ricky (122), as North Zone's first innings stretched to almost 14 hours.

Save a drastic change in fortunes in the game's course on Thursday, North have all but sealed the title.

As per tournament rules, the match will be decided on the basis of the first innings lead in case there is no outright result.

 Scorecard

Sri Lanka 'A' (1st innings): 296

North Zone (1st innings): (627-7 overnight):
A Chopra lbw b Herath 188
G Gambhir b Amarasinghe 7
R Ricky c Samaraweera b Amarasinghe 122
M Manhas lbw b Amarasinghe 29
Yashpal Singh lbw b Mubarak 77
M Rawat not out 104
J Sharma c C Silva b Herath 72
S Rana c C Silva b Herath 0
Gagandeep Singh not out 2
Extras: (b 6, lb 12, nb 15, w 2) 35
Total: (for 7 wkts decl, 192 overs) 636

Fall of wickets: 1-51, 2-265, 3-323, 4-411, 5-490, 6-614, 7-618

Bowling: Ganegama 31-6-104-0, Prasad 29-3-116-0, Amarasinghe 38-4-124-3, Herath 66-14-201-3, Mubarak 15-1-34-1, Chamara Silva 10-0-29-0, Samaraweera 3-0-10-0.

Sri Lanka 'A' (2nd innings):
M Vandort b Rajesh Sharma 37
M Udawatte c Rawat b Joginder Sharma 28
M Warnapura batting 82
T Samaraweera b Rajesh Sharma 31
J Mubarak lbw b Rajesh Sharma 36
C Silva batting 26
Extras: (b 4, lb 8, nb 6, w 1) 19
Total: (for four wkts, 76.1 overs) 259

Fall of wickets: 1-71, 2-71, 3-139, 4-229

Bowling: A Nehra 25-6-89-0, Gagandeep 12-4-35-0, Rajesh Sharma 31-10-81-3, Joginder 8.1-2-42-1.