Mumbai pile on the pressure

Fri, Nov 6 05:38 AM

Romesh Powar has much to thank Rahul Sharma for. The Punjab fielder dropped the Mumbai all-rounder, not once but twice, during the course of the day. Powar, who came in to bat at number nine, made the most of his chances as he brought up his sixth Ranji Trophy century, and a day which started with the Super League tie evenly poised ended with the defending champions pushing for an outright victory at the Sector 16 Stadium in Chandigarh.

When the third day's play began, Mumbai needed 16 runs to take the first-innings lead, but had only three wickets in hand. But Powar and Onkar Khanvilkar never looked like getting out as they added 163 runs for the eighth wicket.

Powar got his first slice of luck when on 73. And then, when he was just two short of his century, he mistimed an attempt to hit over mid-on.

"As soon as I hit the ball, I had my heart in the mouth. I knew the mid-on fielder was quite tall, so he could easily take the catch. It is certainly one of the best innings that I have played so far in my domestic career because it came at a time when we were struggling a bit," Powar said later.

Powar was unrelenting for most part of the day and played some magnificent strokes in his 125, while Khanvilkar missed out on his century by 13 runs. The match was well out of Punjab's reach by the time Khanvilkar departed for a well-constructed 87, but Powar and Zaheer Khan continued to pile on the agony as Mumbai took a 147-run first-innings lead.

Zaheer Khan then sent back Punjab opener Sunny Sohal for four. At the end of the day's play, first-innings centurion Ravi Inder Singh (26) and Uday Kaul (24) were at the crease and Punjab were 55 for one.

Powar insisted Mumbai would go for the kill on the final day. "Apart from Pankaj Dharmani, the Punjab team has quite a few inexperienced faces. The morning session will be crucial for us. If we manage to get two or three early wickets, we'll have a good chance."

Brief scores: Punjab (1st innings) 259 all out in 90.2 overs and (2nd innings) 55 for 1 in 23 overs; Mumbai (1st innings) 471 for 9 declared in 141 overs (S Kukreja 90, O Khanvilkar 87, Ramesh Powar no 125; Harmeet Singh 2 for 90, Love Ablish 4 for 107)

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