A finger injury kept Akash Anand from keeping wickets, but did little to blunt his impact with the bat.
As Mumbai lost its way after Sarfaraz Khan’s commanding daddy hundred, the wicketkeeper-batter stood firm, weathered a flurry of wickets and completed his fourth Firs Class century (117 n.o., 239b, 14x4) to put his side firmly in control against Himachal Pradesh in a Ranji Trophy Group D fixture at the Luhnu Cricket Ground on Tuesday.
The fifth-wicket stand between the two was worth 210 runs. Sarfaraz set the tone with a 154 (228b, 19x4) before falling to Jitender Rana, who returned four for 108. Akash carried on, ensuring Mumbai finished with a formidable 528 for eight declared and a 388-run lead.
Resuming at 398 for four, Mumbai would have hoped Sarfaraz could push on towards a double hundred. Instead, his dismissal triggered a slide, with the away team losing four wickets for 59 runs. Akash, however, remained composed, reaching his milestone even as wickets tumbled at the other end.
Himachal, which had been bowled out inside 40 overs in the first innings, showed greater resolve in its second essay.
It ended the penultimate day at 144 for three, still trailing by 244 runs.
Despite early strikes from Mohit Avasthi and Sylvester D’Souza, captain Pukhraj Mann and Vaibhav Kalta dug in, stitching together an unbroken fourth-wicket stand of 66 to take the contest into the final day.
Under a blazing sun, Mumbai’s bowlers struggled to maintain their early pressure. Vikram Rathour, the former India batter, who is now a consultant with Himachal Pradesh, had spent time with the players after Monday’s play. The improved application was evident as the home side battled to stay afloat.
Himachal Pradesh still has a mountain to climb, while Mumbai will return on Wednesday eyeing the seven wickets needed to seal a bonus-point win.
The scores: Himachal Pradesh — 1st innings: 140.
Mumbai — 1st innings: Divyaansh Saxena c Mahajan b Rana 9, Angkrish Raghuvanshi c Dhaliwal b Abhishek 20, Musheer Khan c Mahajan b Rana 57, Siddhesh Lad c Guleria b Abhishek 87, Sarfaraz Khan c sub (Amanpreet) b Rana 154, Akash Anand (not out) 117, Shams Mulani c Mahajan b Rana 0, Tanush Kotian b Guleria 15, Tushar Deshpande b Nitin 26, Mohit Avasthi (not out) 15; Extras: (b-23, lb-1, nb-4): 28; Total (for eight wkts. decl. in 151 overs): 528.
Fall of wickets: 1-23, 2-32, 3-154, 4-222, 5-432, 6-432, 7-457, 8-491.
Himachal Pradesh bowling: Abhishek 27-8-90-2, Nitin 22-3-78-1, Guleria 27-3-96-1, Rana 26-1-108-4, Dhaliwal 37-5-96-0, Mann 1-0-8-0, Vasisht 11-2-28-0.
Himachal Pradesh — 2nd innings: Innesh Mahajan c Sarfaraz b Mulani 37, Shubham Arora c Akash b Avasthi 16, Nehal Wadhera b D’Souza 11, Pukhraj Mann (batting) 38, Vaibhav Kalta (batting) 21; Extras: (b-4, lb-15, wd-2): 21; Total (for three wkts. in 56 overs): 144.
Fall of wickets: 1-33, 2-58, 3-78.
Mumbai bowling: Deshpande 8-2-19-0, Mulani 17-5-37-1, Avasthi 8-1-18-1, D’Souza 8-1-22-1, Kotian 10-6-15-0, Musheer 5-3-14-0.