Ranji Trophy: Madhya Pradesh in the driver's seat

Lying in balance for two days, the Ranji Trophy final swung slightly in favour of Madhya Pradesh after Yash Dubey and Shubham Sharma struck brilliantly composed centuries to batter Mumbai here on Friday.

Displaying immense confidence and character, Dubey (133, 546m, 336b, 14x4) and Shubham (116, 349m, 215b, 15x4, 1x6) first laid the foundation with a superb 222-run second-wicket stand before the former forged a 72-run partnership with Rajat Patidar (67 batting) as Madhya Pradesh took stumps at a commanding 368/3 - a deficit of six runs - at the M Chinnaswamy stadium.

One-time runner-up Madhya Pradesh, who were given short odds of upsetting 41-time champions Mumbai in the final, began the day with a point to prove. Dubey and Shubham, MP’s in-form batters apart from Patidar, knew taking the first-innings lead was vital against Mumbai. Any slip-ups could prove detrimental to their hopes of securing a maiden title.

Also Read | Sarfaraz's emotional road to redemption

That determination was visible from the opening over of the day when Dubey creamed Mohit Avasthi for a boundary before Shubham hammered Tushar Deshpande for two boundaries the very next over. With their juices flowing from the onset on a batting beauty under crisp sunshine, Dubey and Shubham went on to dominate Mumbai effortlessly.

The duo blended solid defensive batting with attacking shots to ensure Mumbai, who tried creating pressure to the best of their abilities, never got a hold of things on another engrossing day. The good balls were left alone, but anything in their hitting range was dispatched with disdain.

The drives, both on and off and some straight down the ground, the cuts and pulls flowed whenever pacers Dhawal Kulkarni, Deshpande and Avasthi erred even a little bit. They used their feet also brilliantly against spinners Tanush Kotian and Shams Mulani, barely allowing the duo to settle into any sort of rhythm. Such was the assuredness of Dubey and Shubham, Mulani even resorted to negative lines as early as the second hour of the morning.

With things not going their way, including a dropped catch of Shubham when on 55, Mumbai were forced to bring out their unattractive side that big sides resort to against smaller teams. They appealed vehemently and put plenty of pressure on umpires while the close-in fielders engaged in constant banter with the batters. Umpires were even forced to ask Mumbai to tone it down once.

Also Read | Want to enhance fan experience? Start off with a better refund policy

Shubham and Dubey, though, were unperturbed and soldiered on smoothly. It looked like they were prepared for it and displayed a wonderful temperament to cancel out the distractions. Dubey brought up his second century of the season just before lunch and cupped his ears, seemingly indicating his monk-like focus.

Shubham followed suit post-lunch, bringing up his fourth ton of the season, but unlike Dubey, there weren’t any major celebrations. Shubham knew the job was only half done. The main aim was to surpass Mumbai’s total without much damage.

Sadly, Shubham lost focus amidst Mumbai’s constant appeal and played a loose shot against Avasthi. That was only a minor respite for Mumbai as the incoming Patidar, coming off a good season with Royal Challengers Bangalore, took them apart from the word go.

Patidar only relented when his dismissal in the 105th over was overturned after Mulani overstepped. Patidar toned down his aggression eventually as MP chose to resume their fight for a substantial lead on the fourth day.