In a desperate bid to notch up their first outright win of the season, Mumbai batsmen batted with lot of purpose to help the 39-time champions took a handy lead of 252 at close on day three against Madhya Pradesh of the Ranji Trophy Group A match in Indore, on Monday.
Courtesy of Wasim Jaffer's brisk knock of 67 laced with 13 fours and Aditya Tare's quickfire 42 off 44 balls, after being promoted to open the innings, Mumbai finished the day on192 for five in 63 overs.
Earlier, Mumbai got a 61-run first innings lead by bowling out MP for 244 with the final five wickets falling for 46 runs.
Overnight not out batsman Satyam Chaudhary added three runs to his overnight score of 73 before he was done in by a slower delivery from rival skipper Ajit Agarkar who took a simple return catch.
Former India colts player Harpreet Singh hit 10 boundaries in his entertaining knock of 50 before he was bowled by all-rounder Abhishek Nayar.
Anand Rajan got a very bad decision from umpire Nand Kishore who adjudged him caught behind when the ball was nowhere near his bat. Javed Khan then polished the No 10 and 11 in a flash to give Mumbai a chance.
Mumbai will looking to score quick runs in the morning session on day four to give their bowlers enough time on hand to push for an outright victory.
Brief Scores:
Mumbai 304 and 191/5 (Wasim Jaffer 67, Aditya Tare 42, Ishwar Pandey 2/63).
MP 244 all out (Satyam Choudhary 76, Harpreet Singh 50, Abhishek Nayar 3/46, A Agarkar 3/54).