Madhya Pradesh 341 (Himanshu Mantri 165; Mukesh Kumar 4-66) and 163/2 (Rajat Patidar 63*; Pradipta Pramanik 1-22) lead Bengal 273 (Shahbaz Ahmed 116, Manoj Tiwary 102; Puneet Datey 3-48) by 231 runs.
Madhya Pradesh finished Day 3 of the semi-final of the 2021/22 Ranji Trophy in Alur on 163/2. They lead Bengal by 231 runs with eight wickets in hand. Unless the Bengal bowlers – who did not look threatening at all on Thursday – trigger a collapse early on Day 4, MP should be eyeing a spot in the final. At the crease are Rajat Patidar (63*) and captain Aditya Shrivastava (34*).
Bengal resumed the day on 197/5. The unbeaten batters, Manoj Tiwary (102) and Shahbaz Ahmed (116), got their respective hundreds, and stretched their partnership to 183. However, once Tiwary fell, Bengal could add only another 36 runs to finish 68 behind in the first innings. For MP, Kumar Kartikeya, Saransh Jain, and Puneet Datey claimed three wickets apiece.
Mumbai 393 (Hardik Tamore 115, Yashasvi Jaiswal 100; Karan Sharma 4-46) and 133/1 (Prithvi Shaw 64; Saurabh Kumar 1-32) lead Uttar Pradesh 180 (Shivam Mavi 48; Tushar Deshpande 3-34) by 346 runs.
Tushar Deshpande, Mohit Avasthi, and Tanush Kotian took three wickets each to help Mumbai bowl out Uttar Pradesh for 180 in Bengaluru and secure a 213-run lead. The lead could have been bigger, had No. 9 Shivam Mavi not smashed a 55-ball 48 to lift UP from 107/7.
Mumbai did not enforce the follow on. Instead, Prithvi Shaw came out all guns blazing, slamming 64 out of an opening stand of 66. When he got out, his opening partner Yashasvi Jaiswal, who had scored a hundred in the first innings, was yet to open his account. Jaiswal (35*) and Armaan Jaffer (32*) batted out the rest of the day to help Mumbai finish on 133/1. They lead by 346, and have as good as qualified for the final.