<P> The Marathas under Sadashivrao Bhau (referred to as the Bhau or Bhao in sources) responded to the news of the Afghans' return to North India by raising an army, and they marched North . Bhau's force was bolstered by some Maratha forces under Holkar, Scindia, Gaikwad and Govind Pant Bundele . Suraj Mal (the Jat ruler of Bharatpur) also had joined Bhausaheb initially . This combined army captured the Mughal capital, Delhi, from an Afghan garrison in December 1759 . Delhi had been reduced to ashes many times due to previous invasions, and in addition there being acute shortage of supplies in the Maratha camp . Bhau ordered the sacking of the already depopulated city . He is said to have planned to place his nephew and the Peshwa's son, Vishwasrao, on the Mughal throne . The Jats did not support the Marathas . Their withdrawal from the ensuing battle was to play a crucial role in its result . Abdali drew first blood by attacking a small Maratha army led by Dattaji Shinde at Burari Ghat . Dattaji was killed in the battle . </P> <P> With both sides poised for battle, there followed much maneuvering, with skirmishes between the two armies fought at Karnal and Kunjpura . Kunjpura, on the banks of the Yamuna river 60 miles to the north of Delhi, was stormed by the Marathas and the whole Afghan garrison was killed or enslaved . Marathas achieved a rather easy victory at Kunjpura against an army of 15,000 Afghans posted there . Some of Abadali's best generals were killed . Ahmad Shah was encamped on the left bank of the Yamuna River, which was swollen by rains, and was powerless to aid the garrison . The massacre of the Kunjpura garrison, within sight of the Durrani camp, exasperated Abdali to such an extent that he ordered crossing of the river at all costs . Ahmed Shah and his allies on 17 October 1760, broke up from Shahdara, marching south . Taking a calculated risk, Abdali plunged into the river, followed by his bodyguards and troops . Between 23 and 25 October they were able to cross at Baghpat (a small town about 24 miles up the river), unopposed by the Marathas who were still preoccupied with the sacking of Kunjpura . </P> <P> To counter this Raghunathrao was supposed to go north to handle the situation . Raghunathrao asked for large amount and an army, which was denied by Sadashivrao Bhau, his cousin and Diwan of Peshwa, so he declined to go . Sadashivrao Bhau was there upon made commander in chief of the Maratha Army, under whom the Battle of Panipat was fought . </P> <P> After the Marathas failed to prevent Abdali's forces from crossing the Yamuna River, they set up defensive works in the ground near Panipat, thereby blocking his access back to Afghanistan, just as Abdali's forces blocked theirs to the south . However, on the afternoon of 26th October, Ahmad Shah's advance guard reached Sambalka, about halfway between Sonepat and Panipat, where they encountered the vanguard of the Marathas . A fierce skirmish ensued, in which the Afghans lost 1000 men but drove the Marathas back to their main body, which kept retreating slowly for several days . This led to the partial encirclement of the Maratha army . In skirmishes that followed, Govind Pant Bundele, with 10,000 light cavalry who weren't formally trained soldiers, was on a foraging mission with about 500 men . They were surprised by an Afghan force near Meerut, and in the ensuing fight, Bundele was killed . This was followed by the loss of a contingent of 2,000 Maratha soldiers who had left Delhi to deliver money and rations to Panipat . This completed the encirclement, as Ahmad Shah had cut off the Maratha army's supply lines . </P>

Who commanded the maratha army in the third battle of panipat