Railways skipper Karn Sharma led from the front, as he hit a gritty century and helped his team take a massive 152-run first innings lead against Mumbai on the second day of their Elite Group B Ranji Trophy game on Thursday.

It was due to Sharma’s heroics with the bat and a valiant 72-run knock by Arindam Ghosh, that the Railways were able to go past the 250-run mark, after they were teetering at 43/5 at one stage.

As announced on Wednesday, the play began at around 11.30 pm and the Railways resumed their innings on 116/5, when they were two runs ahead of Mumbai.

Left-handed Sharma and Ghosh played cautiously and kept frustrating the Mumbai bowlers, as they stitched a 116- run stand for the sixth wicket.

Sharma, in his unbeaten knock, hammered 15 fours and four sixes, while Ghosh hit 12 boundaries.Their stand not only pulled the Railways out of trouble, but also put them in a good position.

Yadav played the perfect second fiddle to Sharma, who played one of the best knocks of his career.Their stand meant that the Railways piled agony on Mumbai, otherwise known to be strong side at their home turf.After Yadav was dismissed in the 69th over, Sharma was devoid of partners and eventually the Railways innings folded up on 266.