Ranji Trophy: Lad, bowlers put Mumbai in command against Odisha

BHUBANESHWAR: Siddhesh Lad's strokeful 117 and the bowlers' fine performance put Mumbai in the driver's seat against Odisha at the end of the third day in a Ranji Trophy Group C match with the hosts struggling at 93 for 4 in pursuit of 413 for victory.

Lad's ton, studded with 17 fours and one six, enabled Mumbai post a second innings total of 268 for 9 declared before the bowlers took over.

Resuming at the overnight 58 for 3, Mumbai lost wickets in the space of less than 30 runs including that of captain Aditya Tare. However, Lad and veteran Abhishek Nayar, who came together at 85 for 6, arrested the slide.

Lad, who looked to mix aggression with defence, added 57 runs with Nayar and another 76 runs with Akash Parkar (21) to revive his team.

A ninth-wicket partnership of 42 runs with Shardul Thakur rubbed salt into Odisha's wounds and extended the lead beyond the 400-mark.

The Odisha team, which had a horror start in the first innings, losing four wickets for just two runs, lost opener Sandeep Pattanaik at 13 but Natraj Behera and captain Govind Poddar came to the rescue.

Akash Parkar struck twice late in the day to leave Odisha at 93 for 4 and facing a huge task to save the game on the final day on Friday.

Brief scores: Group C:

At Bhubaneshwar: Mumbai 289 all out in 99.5 overs (Prithvi Shaw 105) and 268 for 9 declared in 71 overs (Siddhesh Lad 117, Prithvi Shaw 46, Suryakant Pradhan 3 for 106) vs Odisha 145 all out in 50.5 overs and 93 for 4 in 29 overs (Govind Poddar 48 batting, Akash Parkar 2 for 9).