Gujarat 328 and 47 for 0 (Panchal 34*) need another 265 runs to beat Mumbai 228 and 411 (Nayar 91, Iyer 82, Gaja 6-121)
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
File photo – Mumbai’s lead of 311 was built on Abhishek Nayar’s industry © BCCI
With one day to go in the Ranji Trophy 2016-17 final, this much is clear: Mumbai’s lead is big enough that Gujarat have to achieve the highest successful fourth-innings chase in Ranji Trophy history for their first title. Gujarat had a quick start to their chase of 312, ending a long day in the field positively. However, batting out the whole of Saturday could also give them the title by virtue of a first-innings lead.
By spreading the fields, bowling wide and saving runs – all within the rules, even if debatable, in the second session after taking four wickets – Gujarat allowed the game to meander until Mumbai had no option but to go for broke and set up a target.
What Gujarat did not do within the rules was bowl their overs in time – they bowled 70.1 overs in six full hours, the time which constitutes a full day of 90 overs – which could result in a third over-rate breach for Parthiv Patel, the captain, and his team.
Gujarat’s openers, Priyank Panchal and Samit Gohel, played a lot more freely, compared to the first innings, in the 13.2 overs that were possible on the fourth evening before bad light ended play more than an hour after the scheduled close. They overcame a few nervy moments, but drove the side to 47 for no loss at stumps on a surface that didn’t show signs of deteriorating too much.
With the cold not lifting until noon despite the presence of bright sunshine on each of the four days, the red soil surface hasn’t broken up as much as Mumbai would have liked. While this could hurt Mumbai considering they have two left-arm spinners, they would believe an incisive burst upfront with the new ball on the final day come boost their quest for a 42nd title.
Full report to follow
Shashank Kishore is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo
© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
Source: ESPN Crickinfo