After bowlers restrict Gujarat to 328, Iyer (82), Yadav (45*) give defending champions a chance with 102-run lead at stumps on Day 3
Drooping shoulders are the easiest way to find out which team had a good day in office and which didn’t.
On Thursday, the third day of the Ranji Trophy finals, neither teams – Mumbai or Gujarat — had a smile on their faces. Rather, they wore a tense look at the end of the day.
Despite Gujarat taking the first innings advantage, the match has come to a point where none can claim the right over the coveted trophy with another two days to go.
The defending champions, who had lost the first innings advantage to Gujarat on the second day itself, came back in the game, thanks to some smart batting from Shreyas Iyer (82) and Suryakumar Yadav (45 not out).
Mumbai, now, have a 108 run lead over Gujarat with seven wickets remaining.
After folding out Gujarat, who were 291 for six overnight, for 328 in the first hour of play, chasing first innings score of 228, Mumbai must be relieved to have ended day three on 208 for three.
Opener Prithvi Shaw gave another convincing start to Mumbai’s second innings as he toyed around with the Gujarat attack, picking boundaries almost at will. He dominated the experienced attack, hitting three successive boundaries to Rush Kalaria.
His partner Akhil Herwadkar, on the contrary, was struggling, before he was sent back by seamer Chintan Gaja.
As things were going fine for Mumbai, Shaw, who looked in good nick for another three figure mark, fell to a well-planned strategy of Parthiv that sent him back a few minutes before lunch.
Gaja kept bowling away from the off-stump, which tested Shaw’s patience and he played a rash shot and the ball found his edge to go into the hands of the wicket-keeper after an attractive 44.
Post lunch, it was a hard battle for Mumbai. Gujarat used the ploy of not letting the batsman play easy. They kept bowling outside the off while the batsmen – Iyer and Yadav – chose to leave them.
Off the three seamers, RP looked threatening initially by mixing up the balls, but as the wicket ease out, he lost the zing.
Both batsmen aggressive in nature, curbed their attacking instincts and did not fell prey to Gujarat’s strategy and coolly see off the negative lines.
However, Iyer didn’t shy away from hitting those odd boundaries and ticking off singles and doubles.
Even as Parthiv introduced left-arm spinner Hardik Patel, the idea was the same to bowl on the leg, not letting them get easy pickings.
While Yadav defended perfectly, Iyer chose to go over the top to Hardik twice for the maximum.
Such was Yadav’s patience that he scored just 14 from lunch to tea.
Even as Iyer, who reached his 50 with a cracking boundary to RP, was looking well for another three figure mark, but he fell prey to Gaja, while trying to cut the ball and was unsuccessful, giving a simple catch too Parthiv.
The duo were involved in a valuable 133-run stand for third wicket.
As the sun began to set, Mumbai batsmen Yadav and Tare chose to play it safe, blocking every delivery to go home on a safe note and hoping to return the next day with a new mission.
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