In what turned out to be a memorable day for MP, and a moving day in the Ranji Trophy Final, the Shrivastava-led team first posted a mammoth total of 536 on board and then sent the dangerous Shaw back to end the day with one hand on the coveted trophy.
Havens opened up minutes before the tea break, and Madhya Pradesh finished their first innings at 536 soon after the resumption with a game-changing lead of 162 runs, courtesy Patidar’s superb 122, which had as many as 20 boundaries.
At stumps, Mumbai erased some of the deficit, reaching 113 for 2 with Prithvi Shaw (44 off 51 balls) and Hardik Tamore (25 off 32 balls), promoted up the order, showing some positive intent but throwing away their wickets in desperation for quick runs.
Shaw was dismissed with a classic plan of bowling wide outside the off-stump and he finally chased one from Gourav Yadav straight into cover’s hands.
With 95 overs left on the final day, there is very little chance of Mumbai winning this match unless they score around 320-plus runs in 50 overs (including Saturday's overs) and set a target of 150-odd for MP with at least 45 to 50 overs to get the 10 wickets.
The wicket isn’t showing any signs of wear and tear, and hence a chance of an MP collapse in the fourth innings doesn’t look imminent. Especially, knowing that they have a first-innings lead, MP will like to down the shutters from hereon as ends will prove the means.
When the fourth day started, MP needed seven more runs to get the first-innings lead but what was more important was for Patidar to play at least one session and he did that with minimum fuss which could now prove to be decisive in the context of the game.
Patidar smashed seven more boundaries following his 13 on the third day and by the time he was out for 122 off 219 balls, Madhya Pradesh’s lead had gone over 100 runs, and the sullen faces of the Mumbai players said it all.
Madhya Pradesh’s innings lasted for exactly 14 hours and two minutes and by the end of it all, they had out-batted Mumbai, a similar kind of torture that the domestic powerhouse is used to inflict on their opponents over the years.
At this moment, a win for MP seems like the only option. But as they say, cricket is a funny game, and you can never say never.
(Inputs PTI)
