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Ranji Trophy: Mumbai in control against UP, MP move ahead vs Bengal
Mumbai continue relentless march to Ranji final while MP have the edge against Manoj Tiwary and Co.
All season long Mumbai have perfected the art of pinning down their opponents when they have got slightest of opportunity to do so and on Thursday, they did exactly that to Uttar Pradesh as they extended their lead to 346 and edged closer to a spot in the Ranji Trophy final.
Mumbai skittled Uttar Pradesh out for 180 to take a 213-run first innings lead. At stumps, they had reached 133 for one with Yashasvi Jaiswal (35, 114b) and Armaan Jaffer (32, 67b) at the crease after Prithvi Shaw had given them a solid start with his whirlwind knock of 64 from 71 balls with the help of 12 fours.
After negating the first hour, UP were sitting pretty at 64 for two with skipper Karan Sharma (27, 76b) and Madhav Kaushik (38, 91b) extending their overnight partnership for the third wicket to 60. Sharma in particular looked to up the scoring but that proved to be his undoing as he chased a wide one from Mohit Avasthi (3/39) which was brilliantly caught at second slip by Sarfaraz Khan.
The momentum shifted in Mumbai’s favour and they quickly had UP on the mat, reducing them to 107 for seven. If not for Shivam Mavi’s quickfire 48 from 55 balls, UP would have folded up below 150.
Avasthi was well-supported by fellow pacer Tushar Deshpande (3/34) and off-spinner Tanush Kotian (3/35) who picked up three wickets each.
Kaushik was the next to fall to a brilliant catch by Suved Parkar at short-leg off Kotian. If one rates the efforts put in by respective camps during the match, Mumbai will score very high when it comes to fielding as they latched onto every opportunity that came their way while UP were guilty dropping catches at crucial junctures. They spilled Shaw when he was on 13 and he made them pay for it. Similarly, Jaiswal was dropped twice in the first innings and he went on to make a century.
Mumbai’s second innings had got off to a peculiar start as Shaw started off in a rush while Jaiswal anchored himself at one end. The left-hand batter played 54 balls before he scored his first runs — a boundary off Ankit Rajpoot. Their 66-run partnership saw Mumbai avoid the early jitters. Jaiswal then was involved in an unbeaten 67-run stand with Jaffer to see off the day.
MP extend lead to 231
Manoj Tiwary and Shahbaz Ahmed got to their centuries to help Bengal reduce their first innings deficit as much as possible but it was Madhya Pradesh who ended Day Three on a stronger note as they extended their lead to 231 runs.
Resuming the day at 197 for five, Bengal could add just 80 runs to their overnight total before folding up for 273. Tiwary (102, 211b; 12x4) departed soon after reaching his 29th first-class century as he tried sweep off-spinner Saransh Jain but holed out to Rajat Patidar. He had got a reprieve a ball before as his top-edged sweep fell in open space.
Ahmed (116, 209b; 12x4), who brought up his maiden century with a with a quick single in mid-off region, ran out of partners before eventually becoming second last Bengal batter to head towards the pavilion. If Bengal are still in a position to challenge MP with two days remaining, it is because of the 183-run stand for the sixth wicket between Tiwary and Ahmed.
MP were in spot of bother when they were down 50 for two and Shubham Sharma had to retire because of an injury when on 22. But Rajat Patidar (63 batting, 109b; 10x4) and skipper Aditya Shrivastava’s (34 batting, 90b) 73-run stand for the fourth wicket made sure they didn't suffer any setbacks on way to closing out the day.
