Mumbai tighten grip over Odisha

MUMBAI: Table toppers Mumbai have moved in for another kill, seeking what could possibly be their fourth outright win in six Group 'A' matches of the Ranji Trophy.
On Monday, the 40-time champions forced Odisha into a follow-on before finishing the third and penultimate day at 115-2 in their second innings at the Wankhede Stadium here.
The visitors are still 130 runs short of Mumbai's first innings total of 501.
Resuming at an overnight score of 79-3, Odisha were bundled out for 256 in the first innings a little after lunch when Mumbai captain Wasim Jaffer asked them to bat again. While the visitors showed better application in their second essay, the fourth and final morning could well decide if they can escape from the clutches of a third defeat this season.
A lot of Odisha's hopes would depend on how their batsman Natraj Behera fares for a second day in a row. The 25-year-old, resuming at overnight 45 not out, scored a valiant 130 (258m; 184balls; 24x4, 2x6) as an opener early in the day. He then had to return to the crease as a No. 4 batsman in the last session and remained unbeaten on 20.
Natraj's first innings knock was also his second century of the season riding on the
158 he scored against Delhi at Sambalpur in Odisha's previous match.
In what was a free-wheeling knock, Natraj shared a 77-run stand for the 8th wicket with Basant Mohanty that stretched the Odisha's first innings to 63.5 overs. Natraj himself went for the runs at all times and even collected 20 from one of spinner Vishal Dabholkar's overs, striking two fours and two sixes. The batsman also hit seamer Shardul Thakur for four consecutive boundaries.
The Mumbai bowlers, however, kept picking wickets with Javed Khan claiming the most (4 for 53) including the scalp of Natraj. Thakur took 3-54, Dabholkar 2, and Kshemal Waingankar 1.
Pushed into batting again, Odisha openers Govind Podder ( 42) and Girija Rout (43) shared a resistant 83-run stand before debutant leg-spinner Pravin Tambe seized his chance to bag his first first-class wickets. He had Podder and Rout caught behind with impressive floater to add to his team's celebrations.
Brief Scores: Mumbai 501/9 decl. vs Odisha 256 (N Behera 130, B Samantaray 39, J Khan 4-53, S Thakur 3-54) and 115/2 (G Poddar 42, G Rout 43, P Tambe 2-52).