Yash, Shubham put MP in pole position
Madhya Pradesh end Day 3 of Ranji final on 368/3, just six runs short of Mumbai’s first innings score
MUMBAI: A feature of Madhya Pradesh’s batting this season has been their determination to make it count. On Friday—the third day of the Ranji Trophy final at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru—mumbai found themselves at the receiving end of that approach. With the surface not offering much, Mumbai bowlers struggled to make inroads. At stumps, MP were 368/3, six short of Mumbai’s first-innings total of 374.
The architects of MP’S batting effort were centurions Yash Dubey (133, 336b) and Shubham Sharma (116, 215b), who stitched together a second-wicket partnership of 222 in 440 balls. Rajat Patidar’s 106-ball 67 ensured the Mumbai bowlers received no respite and took MP closer to taking a first-innings lead.
MP’S ruthlessness with the bat was reminiscent of what Mumbai have done to numerous opponents over the years. The approach had the imprint of MP coach Chandrakant Pandit all over it. Pandit, a product of the Mumbai system, seems to have instilled Mumbai’s ‘khadoos’ mentality in the MP batters. Dubey resumed from where he had left on Day 2—staying composed, playing close to the body and making sure he didn’t get distracted by Mumbai’s banter. At one point, Sarfaraz Khan egged him on to go after the spinners and Dubey obliged. He danced down the pitch and whipped Tanush Kotian through midwicket for a boundary—it was his way of stating that he can play big shots if he wants to. That shot took him to 88, but he hit just three more fours—one of which took him to his century— after that, mostly focusing on frustrating the bowlers.
Sharma, on the contrary, was looking to score at every opportunity. In his eagerness to dominate, he slashed at a wide one from Tushar Deshpande that burst through Armaan Jaffer’s hands at point. The tide would have changed had Jaffer held onto that catch. It was only one of just two clear opportunities the MP batters presented all day. There were numerous leg-before appeals turned down and a few close run-out calls but nothing significant to infuse hope into the Mumbai camp. Sharma, who was on 55 at that point, tightened his game after the reprieve at the end of the 47th over.
Dubey’s ton was his second of the season while Sharma brought up his fourth century of the season. Sharma’s stay at the crease ended when he chased a wide one off Mohit Avasthi in the 90th over and edged to keeper Hardik Tamore. Mumbai had finally got the breakthrough they were looking for, but any hopes of them running through the MP batting were quickly dashed by Patidar. He played an attacking innings to ensure that the pressure was firmly on Mumbai.
The 29-year-old was fortunate, though, that Shams Mulani had overstepped when he hit a wide delivery to Kotian at point. Having scored 52 from as many balls till that point, he then focused on taking MP to the close of play without damage.
Mulani toiled hard throughout the day and had some reward when he managed to turn one sharply to have Dubey caught behind, ending his 72-run stand with Patidar for the third wicket.
On Saturday, Mumbai will hope that veteran pacer Dhawal Kulkarni, who suffered a knee injury, is fit to bowl at full tilt. As far as MP are concerned, they will look to follow the template that has served them well—bat as long as possible.
SCORECARD
(1st innings) 374
(1st innings) (overnight 123/1) Y Dubey c Tamore b Mulani 133 H Mantri lbw b Deshpande 31 S Sharma c Tamore b Avasthi 116 R Patidar batting 67 A Shrivastava batting 11
Extras: (b6,lb1,nb2,w1)10 Total (for 3 wkts, 123 ovs) 368 Fall of wickets: 1-47, 2-269, 3-341
Bowling: Kulkarni 21-3-51-0, T Deshpande 24-8-73-1, Mulani 40-4-117-1, Avasthi 20-5-53-1, Kotian 18-1-67-0.