Ranji Trophy Final, Day 4 Highlights: Rajat Patidar hits ton; Madhya Pradesh on the cusp of historic win

Heavens
opened
up
minutes
before
the
tea
break,
and
Madhya
Pradesh
finished
their
first
innings
at
536
soon
after
resumption
with
a
game-changing
lead
of
162
runs,
courtesy
Patidar’s
superb
122,
that
had
as
many
as
20
boundaries.

Four
hundreds
have
been
scored
by
batters
from
either
side
but
none
oozed
more
class
and
competence
than
Patidar’s,
who
was
in
a
league
of
his
own
when
it
came
to
regal
drives
on
both
sides
of
the
wicket.

At
stumps,
Mumbai
erased
some
of
the
deficit,
reaching
113
for
2
with
Prithvi
Shaw
(44
off
51
balls)
and
Hardik
Tamore
(25
off
32
balls),
promoted
up
the
order,
showing
some
positive
intent
but
throwing
away
their
wickets
in
desperation
for
quick
runs.

Shaw
was
dismissed
with
a
classic
plan
of
bowling
wide
outside
the
off-stump
and
he
finally
chased
one
from
Gourav
Yadav
straight
into
cover’s
hands.

With
95
overs
left
on
the
final
day,
there
is
very
little
chance
of
Mumbai
winning
this
match
unless
they
score
around
320-plus
runs
in
50
overs
(including
Saturday’s
overs)
and
set
a
target
of
150-odd
for
MP
with
at
least
45
to
50
overs
to
get
the
10
wickets.

The
wicket
isn’t
showing
any
signs
of
crumbling
and
hence
a
chance
of
an
MP
collapse
in
the
fourth
innings
doesn’t
look
imminent
at
the
moment.
Especially,
knowing
that
they
have
a
first
innings
lead,
MP
will
like
to
down
the
shutters
from
hereon
as
ends
will
prove
the
means.

Day
belonged
to
Patidar

When
the
fourth
day
started,
MP
needed
seven
more
runs
to
get
the
first
innings
lead
but
what
was
more
important
was
for
Patidar
to
play
at
least
one
session
and
he
did
that
with
minimum
fuss
which
could
now
prove
to
be
decisive
in
the
context
of
the
game.

Patidar
smashed
seven
more
boundaries
following
his
13
on
the
third
day
and
by
the
time
he
was
out
for
122
off
219
balls,
Madhya
Pradesh’s
lead
had
gone
over
100
runs
and
the
sullen
faces
of
the
Mumbai
players
said
it
all.

A
poker-faced
Chandrakant
Pandit,
who
had
throughout
the
four
days,
sat
in
one
corner
of
the
dressing
room,
can
now
afford
a
wide
grin
as
even
a
miracle
can’t
turn
things
around
for
his
“home
state”.

Madhya
Pradesh’s
innings
lasted
for
exactly
14
hours
and
two
minutes
and
by
the
end
of
it
all,
they
had
out-batted
Mumbai,
a
similar
kind
of
torture
that
the
domestic
powerhouse
is
used
to
inflicting
on
their
opponents
over
the
years.

Patidar
first
hit
an
on-drive
off
Mohit
Avasthi
for
a
boundary
and
then
punched
him
through
the
cover-point
for
a
couple
to
give
MP
the
all-important
lead.

When
a
player
finds
his
bearing
at
a
higher
level,
he
tends
to
dominate
at
a
level
which
is
notch
below.
The
IPL
might
have
been
a
white
ball
competition
but
the
kind
of
confidence
that
Patidar
gained
from
his
century
against
Lucknow
Super
Giants
on
May
25
IPL
Eliminator
came
in
handy.
He
put
that
to
best
use
exactly
one
month
later
on
June
25
when
he
got
his
eighth
and
most
important
hundred
of
his
first-class
career.

The
cornerstone
of
MP’s
success
this
season
has
been
their
batting
and
No.
2,
3
and
4
scoring
runs
consistently.

While
Patidar
has
so
far
scored
628
runs
and
is
second
behind
Sarfaraz
Khan
(937)
in
the
run-getter’s
list,
Yash
Dubey
(613)
and
Shubham
Sharma
(578)
have
also
earned
their
stripes
with
match-winning
performances.

If
Dubey
and
Sharma
provided
solidity,
Patidar
added
flamboyance
with
his
adventurous
stroke-play
but
at
the
same
time
was
judicious
enough
to
know
when
he
needed
to
defend.

Mulani,
the
tireless
operator

Shams
Mulani
was
disappointing
for
the
better
part
of
the
third
day
when
he
had
bowled
40
overs
with
a
just
a
wicket
to
show
for
his
efforts.
His
final
figures
on
the
day
63.2-11-173-5
might
not
make
a
pretty
reading
but
the
rotund
left-arm
spinner
gave
it
his
all
as
Shaw
used
him
unchanged
from
one
end
till
lunch.

He
was
better
on
the
fourth
morning
as
he
bowled
a
touch
slower
through
the
air
and
gave
the
ball
more
flight
as
it
dipped
on
some
of
the
lower-middle
order
batters.

He
got
an
able
ally
in
Avasthi
(32-7-93-2)
while
Tushar
Deshpande
(36-10-116-3)
was
sharp
in
couple
of
of
his
spells.
The
delivery
to
clean
up
Patidar
was
an
off-cutter
delivered
from
wide
of
crease.

The
man
whose
performance
stood
like
a
sore
thumb
was
Dhawal
Kulkarni
(24-4-53-0),
who
mostly
bowled
innocuous
deliveries
on
the
‘fifth’ and
‘sixth’
off-stump
channel.