Bengaluru, June 24 (Representative) Dual centuries from Yash Dubey and Shubham Sharma and their mammoth 222 runs stand for second wicket pushed Madhya Pradesh an inch closer to their maiden Ranji Trophy title based on first innings lead criteria against Mumbai on Day 3 of the Ranji final at Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Friday. Madhya Pradesh were 368/3 at stumps, trailing Mumbai by 6 runs with Rajat Patidar batting on 67 from 106 balls (13 fours) and Aditya Srivastava 11. Batting first, Mumbai had scored 374 all out, riding high on Sarfaraz Khan’s consecutive fourth hundred of the season. Dubey reached his century at the stroke of lunch, while Sharma scored his fourth hundred of the season in the second session. The pair helped Madhya Pradesh go past 250 without losing a single wicket. While Sharma made 116, Dubey perished after making 133. Sharma rose to the occasion in the final and cracked a ton. He had also slammed a century in the quarterfinal against Punjab.
The right-handed batsman scored 116 off 215 balls, hammering 15 fours and a six. Dubey couldn’t have asked for a better occasion to slam a century, especially after a poor run. He cracked 14 boundaries in his 336-ball marathon innings. He has plundered 613 runs at 87.57 this season. Patidar also came in and showcased a bellicose display, bringing up his sixth fifty of the season in 44 deliveries. Mumbai managed to bag just two wickets in all the three sessions as the overnight batsmen Dubey and Sharma piled on runs on a pitch which hardly had minimal movement and spin. They also have themselves to blame for dropping a catch in the first hour of play and picking up a wicket off a no-ball. Patidar was caught at backward point after chasing a wide ball from Shams Mulani, but replays showed that the left-arm orthodox spinner had overstepped that gave the right-hand batsman a reprieve at 52. Arman Jaffer missed a dolly from Sharma’s bat at short point. Mumbai tried every card, even by employing a maimed Dhawal Kulkarni, but did not fetch them anything that could help them rattle Madhya Pradesh batsmen.
For Mumbai, Mulani and Mohit Avasthi bagged a wicket each. Resuming the innings on Day 3, Madhya Pradesh did not lose a wicket and added 105 runs to their overnight score of 123 for 1. Dubey and Sharma started off from where they left last evening, mixing aggression with caution and extending their partnership beyond 150. Both batsmen reached their fifties, but it was Dubey who accelerated and reached his hundred towards lunch break. Madhya Pradesh also dominated the second session of the day. Dubey and Sharma continued to pile misery on Mumbai. Sharma reached his hundred and the pair took their partnership past 200. They had negotiated the first hour without any problems and looked set to take the game away, but Avasthi struck and broke the 222-run stand. Brief Scores: Mumbai 374 all out in 127.4 overs (Sarfaraz Khan 134; Gaurav Yadav 4/106) lead Madhya Pradesh 368/3 in 123 overs (Yash Dubey 133, Shubham Sharma 116; Mohit Awasthi 1/53, Tushar Deshpande 1/73) by six runs.