Yash Dubey and Shubham Sharma pulled the rug from under heavyweights Mumbai's feet by scoring tons and led Madhya Pradesh to a giant leap towards their maiden Ranji Trophy title.
Mumbai's first innings score of 374 looked good on the second day but Dubey and Sharma added 222 runs for the second wicket. MP was 368/3 at the end of day three.
Madhya Pradesh need only seven more runs to take a decisive first-innings lead and unless they suffer a collapse in the fourth innings, the title is theirs for taking.
The duo set the field on fire. Rajat Patidar then used his newfound confidence to hammer 67 with 13 boundaries.
MP would certainly want to stretch their innings as much as possible so that Mumbai have no chance to make a comeback in the game.
The biggest disappointment for Mumbai was their spinner Shams Mulani who bowled too many loose deliveries.
Dhawal Kulkarni and Tushar Deshpande also showed below-par performances.
When Mulani came in, Sharma hit a six, leaving his skipper Prithvi Shaw frustrated.
While Dubey hit 14 boundaries and Sharma had 15 hits and a maximum to his credit, what stood out during their partnership was their running between the wickets.
Dubey and Sharma ran 76 singles between them in their double-hundred-plus partnership.
Arman Jaffer missed a catch of Sharma at a short point, Mumbai hardly created any chances although Mohit Avasthi could be credited for bowling one channel.
Dubey did repeat the ‘Sidhu Moosewala’ celebration (thigh thump and index finger pointed towards the sky) but it was more about driving home a point for Sarfaraz Khan, who was sledging the duo.
By the time, Sharma was caught behind off Avasthi and Dubey gave Mulani something to cheer after another 72-run third-wicket stand, some of the Mumbai players were on their hunches.
Patidar was smashing them for fun and the writing is clearly on the Wall.
Madhya Pradesh is walking away with the title unless there is a miracle in the last two days.
In the 1998-99 season, when the first time MP reached the final, they had lost to Karnataka.
(Inputs from PTI)
