Ranji Trophy 2016-17 Finals Day 3 Round-Up: Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav put Mumbai in command

What’s the story?

Mumbai re-gained the lead on day 3 of the Ranji Trophy finals thanks to some majestic batting by Shreyas Iyer and Suryakumar Yadav. Mumbai were still trailing by 34 runs when the duo got together at the crease and when the former departed, caught off the bowling of Chintan Gaja, they were in a position of strength, leading by 93 runs.

For most of the day, though, it was stonewalling at its best, especially from Yadav, who ended the day with 45 runs to his name off a whopping 175 deliveries.

In case you didn’t know...

Gujarat resumed from their overnight score of 291/6 but they could add just 35 runs as their tail was demolished by Thakur and Sandhu who bagged 2 wickets each. Sandhu finished with figures of 3/63 while Thakur was the pick of the bowlers, ending with 4/84.

Mumbai trailed by 100 at the start of their second innings and needed a contribution from their top order in order to reduce the deficit quickly.

The heart of the matter

Prithvi Shaw got them off to a flying start with a blistering 44 off just 35 balls. He soon nicked off to the bowling of Gaja to leave his side at 66-2 after Akhil Herwadkar fell cheaply earlier.

That was as good as it would get for Gujarat though as Iyer and Yadav added 127 runs for the third wicket. Iyer mixed caution with aggression while Yadav played with an extremely cool head to take his side past the deficit and put them in a commanding position at the end of the day.

Iyer was dismissed just 18 runs short of his century but Aditya Tare came in to see his side through.

What next?

Mumbai will look to bat big and get a lead of close to 300 if they can. With two days to go there is plenty of time in this match. With Abhishek Nayar still in the dugout, and Tare and Yadav well set, expect some quick runs tomorrow.

Sportskeeda's take

Mumbai fought back and have got themselves into an extremely strong position. They will be looking to build on their third day's performance and move closer to what could be their 42^nd Ranji Trophy title.

Gujarat need to get early wickets if they are to stifle Mumbai’s challenge but it looks unlikely the way things have played out so far.