Punjab were trailing by 171 runs in the second innings with six wickets in hand at stumps after Mumbai declared their first innings on 569 for eight with a 415-run lead in the morning. Shardul Thakur then claimed opener Manan Vohra early to leave the visitors on 16 for one. However, Jiwanjot Singh anchored Punjab with a well compiled 91 while Mandeep Singh held the innings together after his departure.
At the end of the day’s play, Punjab were 244 for four with Mandeep (82*) and Himanshu Chawla (31*) in the middle.
Having set the visitors a mountainous task, Aditya Tare opened the bowling with Thakur and Harmeet Singh. Thakur had Vohra edge to the wicketkeeper in the fifth over. However, in his fifth over, the pacer returned to the dressing room hurt and Balwinder Singh Sandhu finished the over, but was back into the attack later in the day.
Uday Kaul, who had then joined Jiwanjot in the middle, helped take Punjab to lunch on 44 for one. The pair negotiated the Mumbai attack to take the team to 71 until Uday departed handing a catch to Shrideep Mangela at forward short-leg in the first half of the second session.
Mandeep then joined forces with the opener. Playing diligently to put forth a better performance in the second innings in an effort to save the match, they took Punjab to tea on 139 for two without further lapses in the session.
However, in the sixth over into the last session of the day, the Jiwanjot-Mandeep partnership ended on 101. Looking to sneak in a second run, the opener was found short of his crease as Harmeet Singh fired in a throw from deep mid-wicket and Tare took the bails off to send Jiwanjot back.
Stand-in captain Yuvraj Singh then came to the crease to join Mandeep in an effort to keep the innings afloat. The experienced campaigner flicked Dhawal Kulkarni on the leg side for a boundary and then followed up with a couple more before returning to the pavilion for 14. Akhil Herwadkar, the opening batsman, was asked to roll his arm over as Mumbai tried to get some quick overs in. The part-time off-spinner got the biggest wicket of his career, bowling Yuvraj around his legs to put Mumbai on top and reduce Punjab to 195 for 4.
Chawla then took guard opposite Mandeep who looked in good touch as he worked to hold the innings together. The pair picked the odd boundary as they toiled to build a partnership and chip into the deficit.
When play was called off for the day, Mandeep and Chawla’s partnership was unbroken on 49.
Brief scores:
End of Day 1: Punjab 1st inn 154 all out in 57 overs (M Vohra 34, B Sandhu 4/31, S Thakur 4/47); Mumbai 1st inn 103/2 in 18 overs (S Iyer 61*, S Yadav 16*, B Sran 1/28)
End of Day 2: Mumbai 1st inn 495/6 in 112 overs (S Iyer 200, A Tare 111*, S Yadav 78, BS Sran 3/97)
End of Day 3: Mumbai 1st inn 569/8 decl. in 124 overs (A Tare 137*, D Kulkarni 42); Punjab 2nd inn 244/4 in 77 overs (J Singh 91, M Singh 82*, S Thakur 1/58)
