Mumbai were 113/2 at stumps on Day 4 in the 2021/22 Ranji Trophy final against Madhya Pradesh at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru. They need another 49 simply to make MP bat again. Despite Mumbai's tendency of converting hopeless situations into wins, MP are strong favourites to win their first Ranji Trophy title in seven decades.
MP began the day on 368/3, six runs behind Mumbai's first-innings score. Rajat Patidar (122) and captain Aditya Shrivastava (25) took them past 400 before three quick wickets reduced them to 430/9. But Patidar stayed put, adding 53 with Saransh Jain (57) for the eighth wicket. Even as Shams Mulani (5-173) kept striking, Jain stood firm, batting with the tail to take MP to 536.
Trailing by 162, Mumbai came out all guns blazing despite the absence of Yashasvi Jaiswal, who had to sit out for 120 minutes following an ankle injury that had forced him off the field. Wicketkeeper Hardik Tamore got 25, while Prithvi Shaw (44), forced to chase a ball wide of off stump, reached out and hit to the fielder. Armaan Jaffer (30*) and Suved Parkar (9*) then batted through the rest of the day.
Brief scores
Mumbai 374 (Sarfaraz Khan 134; Gaurav Yadav 4-106) and 113/2 (Prithvi Shaw 44; Gaurav Yadav 1-23) lead Madhya Pradesh 536 (Yash Dubey 133, Rajat Patidar 122, Shubham Sharma 116; Shams Mulani 5-173) by 49 runs.