An unbeaten 129 by skipper Wasim Jaffer and a well-compiled 98 by Ajinkya Rahane helped Mumbai inch towards the first innings lead in their Ranji Trophy Super League match against Group A leaders Tamil Nadu at the MCA Complex, in Mumbai, on Thursday.
Resuming at their overnight score of 10 without loss, the defending champions finished day three on 308 for three, still 193 runs adrift of the Tamil Nadu total but with seven first innings wickets intact.
Tamil Nadu's formidable 501 in their first essay had already ensured that the most Mumbai could hope for, in this match played on a placid wicket, is three points, on the basis of the first innings lead.
And, with a day's play left, that seems to be the only possibility with a result out of question.
After losing their openers Sahil Kukreja (31) and Praful Waghela (24) with just 72 runs on board, Jaffer and Rahane combined effectively to put on 193 runs for the third wicket.
Jaffer's innings, his third century this season, came off 218 balls and contained 15 boundaries and two sixes.
Mumbai's captain also happens to be his team's highest scorer this season, with a tally of 534 runs in seven innings (@ 133. 50), the second highest aggregate in the competition after Parthiv Patel's 578 for Gujarat.
Rahane, dropped twice off the bowling of Aushik Srinivas -- on 12 and 22 -- used his fortune to good effect, crossing the fence on 11 occasions and going over it twice en route to his 183-ball knock.
But his luck ran out when he was just two runs short of what would have been a deserved century. Srinivas had the last laugh, having Rahane caught by stumper ushil.
At stumps, Onkar Khanvilkar (18 not out) was giving a resolute Jaffer company even as the outcome of the match seemed all the more predictable.
Brief scores:
Tamil Nadu: 501 (S Badrinath 250, C Ganapathy 126; D Kulkarni 3-93, U Malvi 3-108).
Mumbai: 308-3 (W Jaffer 129 not out, A Rahane 98).
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Himachal beat Gujarat for first victory
Surat: Mukesh Sharma hit an unbeaten half-century before pacer Mohinderaj Sharma stole the limelight with a five-wicket haul as Himachal Pradesh handed Gujarat a six-wicket defeat on the third day of their Ranji Trophy Super League Group A match.
Mohinderaj (5 for 31) and his pace partner Ashok Thakur (3 for 24) ripped apart the Gujarat batting line-up to bundle the hosts out for a paltry 87 runs in their second innings and give Himachal a winning target of 140.
However, Himachal did not have the best of starts, both their openers -- Bhavin Thakker (6) and Sangram Singh (6) -- were out in quick succession, leaving them reeling at 20 for two.
Next batsman V A Indulkar (4) survived just eight balls before being dismissed by Brahmbhatt.
Hemant Dogra (42) and Mukesh (52) then stitched a 68-run partnership to take Himachal closer to victory.
Mukesh and Paras Dogra (23) completed the formalities with an unfinished 51-run stand to give Himachal their first victory.
Earlier, Himachal Pradesh, resuming at 174 for eight, could add just four runs to their overnight score before being dismissed for 182 in their first innings, handing the hosts an overall lead of 52 runs.
Gujarat had scored 234 in their first innings.
Brief scores:
Gujarat: 234 (P Patel 57; V Malik 3-31) & 87 (M Sharma 5-31, Athakur 3-24).
Himachal Pradesh: 182 (P Dogra 69, V Indulkar 49; S Trivedi 6-32) & 141-4 (M Sharma 52, H Dogra 42; T Brahmbhatt 3-39).
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Hyderabad concede first innings lead to Railways
Hyderabad: Ambati Rayudu's gritty 73 notwithstanding, hosts Hyderabad conceded a wafer-thin two-run first innings lead to Railways in the Ranji Trophy Super League Group A match.
In reply to Railways' first innings total of 305, Hyderabad resumed at 99 for 2 on Thursday and rode on Rayudu's half century and cameos from Mohammed Khader (34) and Alfred Absolem (29) to cross the 300-mark before wilting for 303.
At stumps, Railways were 18 for no loss in their second innings, with Faiz Fazal (5) and V Cheluvaraj (7) in the middle.
Earlier, Sanjay Bangar (4/91) and Krishnakant Upadhyay (4/93) shared eight wickets between them to plot Hyderabad's peril.
All eyes were on the captain VVS Laxman (9) to rescue his side from collapse but the classy middle-order batsman failed to deliver the goods and fell to Upadhyay.
Rayudu found some support from Praneet Arjun (22) and stitched together a 79-run stand before Rayudu was bowled by Bangar.
Brief scores:
Railways: 305 (M Suresh 64; A Absolem 5-89) & 18-0
Hyderabad: 303 (A Rayudu 73, P Shashank Nag 51, S Bangar 4-91, K Upadhyay 4-93)
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Delhi scent victory after Sangwan's 5 for 95
New Delhi: Ankit Bawane hit a defiant century for Maharashtra as Pradeep Sangwan's five-wicket haul put Delhi on the threshold of their second successive victory in the Ranji Trophy Super League match.
In reply to Delhi's first innings total of 419, Maharashtra wilted for 163 in their first innings.
Following-on, the visitors resumed at 32 for 1 on Thursday and were 334 for 9 at stumps, with Kiran Adhav (13) and Samad Fallah (5) in the middle.
It was a much-improved show though by Maharashtra, who now have a 78-run lead over the hosts, courtesy Bawane's 118 and Rohit Motwani's gritty 61.
Sangwan starred for Delhi with five for 95, running through the Maharashtra top and middle order.
Bawane and Motwani added 107 runs for the fifth wicket to arrest the slide before Parwinder Awana dismissed Motwani.
Bawane found some support in Digambar Waghmare (46) and the duo raised another 105 runs to reach the 300-mark before Mithun Manhas broke the stand, ejecting Waghmare.
Sangwan then dismissed Bawane and the scoreless Jitendra Patil with successive deliveries to compound their misery.
Delhi: 419 (M Manhas 170, R Bhatia 99; S Fallah 5-121, J Patil 4-113).
Maharashtra: 163 (P Awana 5-40) & 334-9 (A Bawane 118, R Motwani 61; P Sangwan 5-95).
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UP beat Bengal by three wkts inside three days
Uttar Pradesh rode on a half century by Parvinder Singh (62) and his 93-run stand with captain Mohd Kaif as they beat Bengal by three wickets, inside three days, in their Ranji Super League Group B match in Kanpur on Thursday.
Needing 183 for victory, with eight wickets in hand, Uttar Pradesh lost overnight batsman Shivakant Shukla in the first over of the morning but Kaif and Parvinder frustrated the Bengal bowlers with a 93-run stand for the fourth wicket.
The duo rattled up their runs from 166 balls, with Parvinder, who hit 10 fours in his 95-ball knock, outscoring his captain, whose 96-ball 44 was studded with six fours.
Kaif fell first and Parvinder followed him within five overs and 10 runs.
Bengal sniffed a slim chance of victory as UP were reduced to 160 for five, when Parvinder was out, but Bhuvneshwar Kumar (29) and Piyush Chawla (21) shared a crucial 43-run stand for the sixth wicket to take the home side past 200.
Rohit Srivastava and Praveen Gupta then knocked off the required runs to attain the target of 236.
For Bengal, Ranadeb Bose, who had a five-wicket haul in Uttar Pradesh's first innings, took three more wickets in the second innings, while Sourav Sarkar and Laxmi Ratan Shukla got two scalps each.
Brief scores:
Bengal 193 (S Ganguly 66; P Chawla 4-52, P Kumar 3-54) & 104 (B Kumar 5-27)
Uttar Pradesh 62 (R Bose 5-18) & 236-7 (Parvinder 62, Mohd Kaif 41; R Bose 3-68).
