Mumbai in command against Bengal

Bengal's hope of making it to the quarter-finals of the Ranji Trophy took a back seat as Mumbai bundled them out for 117 only to take a first innings of lead of 65 runs. As a result, Bengal will get only three points from this match if it ends in a draw. That would take their tally to 16 and if Karnataka manage a first innings lead against Delhi then it would also make their tally same. In that case, last year's champions will qualify as they have one outright victory against Bengal's none.

However, as far as a draw is concerned, it is a distant proposition in this match. On a pitch where the ball is jumping and turning square it will require tremendous technique and courage to survive even a full day. Mumbai failed to do it in the first innings and the Bengal batsmen were no exception today. Except for skipper Utpal Chatterjee who was the highest scorer with 27 with a fractured right thumb and Rohan Gavskar (23) none of the other batsmen were able to cross 15. Mumbai in their second innings were 102 for the loss of Amol Rane's wicket.

Even though there was appreciable turn for the bowlers it was slow. However, the Bengal batsmen were not ready to play a waiting game. Devang Gandhi, who was the main hope for the home side perished early on, falling leg before to Abey Kuruvilla. He made the mistake of going back to a ball which he should have played forward to. Gavaskar batted against his father's team with a lot of grit. His 23 came in 120 minutes. However, both he and Srikkanth Kalyani got out trying to cut balls that they could have well avoided. For Mumbai, Kuruvilla took three wickets while Nilesh Kulkarni, Rajesh Pawar and Romesh Powar finished with two wickets apiece.

Whatever hopes Bengal had of making a comeback were dashed by Jaffer. He is unbeaten with 64 of 97 balls. Of the 12 boundaries that he has so far struck, seven have been hit off Chatterjee. The Bengal left-arm spinner looked a demoralised bowler today. Maybe, the performance of his batsmen had influenced his bowling. Mumbai now are in a very healthy position leading by 167 runs with nine wickets remaining.