Madhya Pradesh look like favourites heading into the fourth day as the perennial underachievers chase their first Ranji Trophy title. Up against a rampaging Mumbai unit, the Aditya Shrivastava-led side scored 245 runs off the 82 overs they faced on Day 3 at Bengaluru’s M. Chinnaswamy Stadium.
The two overnight batsmen, Yash Dubey and Shubham Sharma, both plundered identical tons to sink Mumbai’s chances of gaining a first-innings advantage. Sharma batted his way to 116 from 215 balls, while opener Dubey compiled 133 during his marathon 336-ball stay at the crease.
While MP’s middle-order batsman Rajat Patidar scored a quickfire fifty, he adopted a cautious approach in his batting during the twilight stages of the day. Patidar remained unbeaten on 67 and will continue his side’s first-innings response tomorrow alongside captain Shrivastava. Overall, the Madhya Pradesh batters finished the day at 368-3, just six runs shy of Mumbai’s 374-run total.
Among the Mumbai bowlers, Shams Mulani, Mohit Avasthi and Tushar Deshpande all claimed a wicket each. Dhawal Kulkarni remained wicketless despite toiling away for 21 overs in the middle.
The Prithvi Shaw-led side will be looking for early wickets on Day 4 as they chase their 42nd Ranji Trophy title.
Brief scores:
Mumbai: 374 (127.4)
Sarfaraz Khan 134, Yashasvi Jaiswal 78
Gaurav Yadav 4-106, Anubhav Agarwal 3-81
Madhya Pradesh: 368-3 (123)
Yash Dubey 133, Shubham Sharma 116
Mohit Avasthi 1-53, Tushar Deshpande 1-73
Madhya Pradesh trail by 6 runs