After being forced to follow-on, Himachal Pradesh fought back to score 236 for five in their second innings on the penultimate day of their four-day Ranji Trophy Group A Super League match against Mumbai Dharmshala on Wednesday.
The match is now interestingly poised with the hosts 80 runs ahead and five second innings wickets in hand, and only a day left in the match.
Himachal, resuming their first innings on the overnight score of 180 for seven, lost their eighth wicket in the second over of the day when V Bhatia was clean bowled by former India pacer Ajit Agarkar.
The Mumbai bowlers then wrapped the Himachal tail to bundle them out for a modest 214, just seven run short of saving a follow on.
Forced to follow-on, the Himachal batsmen put up an improved performance in their second innings with the opening pair of M Gupta (53) and H Dogra (47) giving them a decent start with a 76-run stand.
P Dogra (50) and A Mannu (42) then shared 81 runs for the sixth wicket to finish the day at 236 for five.
Scorecard
Mumbai (1st innings): 370
Himachal Pradesh (1st innings):
M Gupta lbw b Hussain 29
H Dogra c Samant b Hussain 38
Sangram Singh c Kukreja b Hussain 0
Sandeep Sharma c Samant b Hussain 6
P Dogra run out 42
M Bisla c Samant b Abdulla 37
A Mannu c Muzumdar b Powar 0
Sarandeep Singh not out 22
V Bhatia b Agarkar 15
A Thakur b Hussain 7
V Malik b Hussain 2.
Extras: (b 8, lb 6, nb 2) 16
Total: (in 67.5 overs) 214 all out
Fall of wickets: 1-56, 2-67, 3-70, 4-78, 5-156, 6-161, 7-164, 8-191, 9-206.
Bowling: A Agarkar 14-3-65-1, M Hussain 18.5-1-58-6, A Nayar 11-1-35-0, I Abdulla 11-4-16-1, R Powar 13-3-26-1.
Himachal Pradesh (2nd innings): (following on)
M Gupta lbw b Abdulla 53
H Dogra c & b Powar 47
Sangram Singh b Powar 0
Sandeep Sharma lbw b Abdulla 8
P Dogra batting 50
M Bisla lbw b Hussain 19
A Mannu batting 42.
Extras: (b 2, lb 6, w 4, nb 5) 17
Total: (in 87 overs) 236 (for 5)
Fall of wickets: 1-76, 2-78, 3-107, 4-126, 5-155.
Bowling: A Agarkar 5.2-1-12-0, M Hussain 8.4-0-43-1, A Nayar 27-3-58-0, R Powar 25-3-67-2, I Abdulla 19-10-32-2 R Sharma 2-0-16-0