Ranji round 4, day 3: Mulani's six-for helps Mumbai enforce follow-on

The highlights:

Shams Mulani's six-for puts Mumbai in the box seat.

TN in fight for survival against Assam.

Yashasvi Jaiswal's older brother among top performers as Tripura eye Baroda upset.

Uttarakhand eye maiden win as Andhra face daunting chase.

He's not with the Ranji team, but his mates couldn't be happier. Because he's at the doorstep of the national team, with India A in Australia, on the back of two stunning years in domestic cricket. Vishal Dikshit traces the journey of the Vikhroli boy on his route to the MCG.

As things stand, he'll be back next week and will be available for the white-ball leg as well as the second half of the Ranji season.

Runners-up of the previous season are chugging along pretty well. They've got Himachal on the mat, having taken a 268-run lead courtesy hundreds from Dhruv Shorey and Yash Rathod. Karun Nair (85) and Akshay Wadkar (67), the captain, chipped in with handy contributions. Himachal have a little over one full day to bat out to try and salvage one point. They're currently placed third in the group.

Rajasthan and Hyderabad were in a dogfight for first innings points. Rajasthan needed six runs for a lead and three possible points. Hyderabad need one wicket. It turns out Hyderabad have been pipped courtesy a last-wicker stand of 20. Looks like Rajasthan will walk away with three points with this one here.

You heard that right.

The match is being played at the St Xaviers College ground in Thumba, not the Greenfield Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram. And a storm has literally led to chaos inside the dressing room, even as the outfield remains under covers.

Kerala are in a commanding position, though, having reduced Uttar Pradesh to 66 for 2 in the second innings. They still trail by 167. Salman Nizar top scored with 93, while Sachin Baby (84) and Mohammad Azharuddeen made a vital 40 to swell their lead.

Kerala are currently second in Group C and will likely remain there even if they just walk away with first-innings honours here as it looks increasingly likely that third-placed Karnataka can at best hope to salvage one point against Bengal.

Having won their fourth game earlier today, Haryana are table toppers.

The unfancied Tripura are in an excellent position in their clash against table-toppers Baroda.

Having bowled them out for 235, Tripura's lead stands at 211 at tea on day 3. Their batting efforts have been led by four half-centurions. Jiwanjot Singh (94), Tejasvi Jaiswal (82), older brother of Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sridam Paul (73) and Mandeep Singh, the captain, who is now unbeaten on 67.

If they're able to secure a big enough lead that translates into an innings victory here, they'll climb to 16 points and will remain tied for third with Mumbai, who will also have 16 should they beat Odisha by an innings.

That'll then mean the top four looks like this after the fourth round:
1. Baroda 19 points
2. J&K 17 points
3. Tripura 16 points
4. Mumbai 16 points

And each of these four teams will be in contention for the two quarterfinal spots

Can they push for an outright? They're ahead by 80 with a little over four sessions remaining. They're currently second from bottom in Group D and their knockouts aspirations are fast fading. They need to go on an absolute roll to storm back into contention. And it needs to start right now.

For a while, Mumbai were frustrated with Odisha's resistance on the third day. But their persistence has paid off. In Tanush Kotian's absence, Shams Mulani has let the ball do all the talking.

After opening the season with two draws, Jammu & Kashmir have now won two on the bounce, first against Services and now against Meghalaya. This now puts them at second spot, and they'll remain there even if Mumbai secure an outright against Odisha.

Meghalaya paid the price for a first-innings meltdown, where they were bundled out for 73. J&K's lead of 122 became too big to bridge. While they did manage to set a target of 78 and even picked up three J&K wickets in the second innings, the result was never in doubt.

Fast bowler Aaqib Nabi finishes with five wickets in each innings.

At the start of the third day, Punjab needed 144 with seven wickets in hand. But they've folded pretty quickly, well before lunch, as Haryana win by 37 runs. With four wins in four games, they top Group C and have one foot in the door for the knockout stages.

Punjab's hopes of chasing 217 was largely down to Prabhsimran Singh, who was unbeaten overnight. But he was dismissed early to open the floodgates. Nehal Wadhera counter-attacked to make 33, but his dismissal reduced the rest of the chase to a one-way traffic.

Nishant Sindhu, the left-arm spinner, ends with match haul of 11 for 103. Punjab lost eight wickets to spin in the second innings overall, with Jayant Yadav picking up three and Sindhu six. In fact, 33 of the 40 wickets to fall in this game in Lahli have been to the spinners.

Meanwhile in Mumbai, a man who was left out of Mumbai's XI has now been brought in as a substitute and is immediately under pressure.

Ishan Porel has picked up two of the three wickets to fall, including the big ones of Shreyas Gopal and Abhinav Manohar, as Karnataka have been reduced to 182/8 in response to Bengal's 301 at M Chinnaswamy Stadium.

In Lahli, Punjab have lost a clutch of wickets in the morning. They've swiftly reduced the runs needed to 66, but only have three wickets in hand. Nishant Sindhu, the left-arm spinner, has picked up two of the four wickets to fall so far, thereby completing his maiden 10-wicket haul in first-class cricket. Jayant Yadav and Harshal Patel with the other two wickets.

Yes, that's right. Yashasvi's older brother, Tejasvi, has hit a maiden first-class half-century in only his third game as Tripura have come up with a strong reply to Baroda's 235.

Tejasvi has hit seven fours and a six in his 60-ball half-century. He's batting alongside Jiwanjot Singh as Tripura are just within 17 runs of a first-innings lead with nine wickets in hand.