By Shamik Chakrabarty in Mumbai
Closer to tea and after it, the game changed. Suddenly, the ball started to do a bit, the bounce became a tad disconcerting and Musheer Khan, a part-time left-arm spinner, picked up the habit of landing the ball in the right areas.
Against Mumbai’s first-innings total of 416 all out, Chhattisgarh had an 85-run opening partnership. They went to tea on 149/3. At stumps on Day 3, they slumped to 175/6. Rain appears to be the biggest impediment for Mumbai to force a result in this game here at the MCA Ground at Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC). After a delayed start (11am) to the third day’s play, it was an early close (4.17pm) as well, when the skies opened up again. Just 63.3 overs could be bowled on the day.
The only way for Mumbai to secure an outright win is to enforce the follow-on on the final day. Chhattisgarh need another 92 runs to avoid it with the tail to offer the rearguard. Given the weather forecast of intermittent showers on Tuesday also, the hosts could be done in by the lack of time. Akash Anand, the Mumbai wicketkeeper-batsman, however, remains optimistic. “If there’s a full day’s play tomorrow, we are confident of getting a result,” he said.
Before off-spinner Himanshu Singh removed Aayush Pandey, it felt like the game was meandering towards a boring draw. Pandey scored an 89-ball 50 and was ably supported by his opening partner Shashank Chandrakar. The latter made 43 before he, too, was dismissed by Singh. Then, Musheer started to ask tough questions and Shams Mulani also came to the party.
Musheer trapped Sanjeet Desai leg-before. His next wicket was Amandeep Khare, brilliantly caught by Ajinkya Rahane at slip. The ball took the outside edge, deflected off Anand’s gloves and was dying, when Rahane dived forward and took it inches off the floor. Angkrish Raghuvanshi’s catch at silly point to get rid of Ashutosh Singh off Mulani was even better. At stumps, Shashank Singh was batting on 20, with Aditya Sarwate giving him company on three.
Earlier, Mumbai’s last two wickets added 10 runs to their overnight score of 406. Sarwate, the 35-year-old left-arm spinner, returned with 5/103 from 41.3 overs — his 22nd five-for in first-class cricket.
Brief scores: Mumbai 416 (Akash Anand 61; Aditya Sarwate 5/103) vs Chhattisgarh 175/6 (Aayush Pandey 50; Musheer Khan 2/29, Himanshu Singh 2/33, Shams Mulani 2/41)
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