Ranji Trophy Final, Day 3: Yash Dubey, Shubham Sharma Centuries Put Madhya Pradesh On Top vs Mumbai

Unheralded Yash Dubey and Shubham Sharma made the biggest stage of Indian domestic cricket their own with well-crafted centuries, that pulled the rug from under heavyweights Mumbai's feet as Madhya Pradesh took a giant leap towards their maiden Ranji Trophy title in Bengaluru on Friday. Mumbai's first innings score of 374 looked reasonably good on the second day but Dubey (133, 336 balls) and Sharma (116, 215 balls) added 222 runs for the second wicket to take MP to a solid 368 for 3 at the end of day three.

Madhya Pradesh now need only seven more runs to take a decisive first innings lead and unless they suffer a collapse in the fourth innings, the title is theirs for taking.

MP had lost to Karnataka when the last time they competed in a Ranji Trophy final in the 1998-99 season.

The duo took the sting out of Mumbai attack with some 'khadoos' (stubborn) batting straight out of Chandrakant Pandit's coaching play book as 245 runs were scored through the whole day but more effectively, they ran Mumbai attack ragged with their solid game plan.

Rajat Patidar, one of the heroes of RCB's campaign in the IPL, then used his new-found confidence to score an unbeaten 67 with 13 boundaries.

MP would certainly want to stretch their innings as much as possible so that Mumbai have no chance to make a comeback in the game.

The Chinnaswamy Stadium track didn't show signs of wear and tear and the bright sunshine only helped the MP batters to settle down easily against a Mumbai attack which was at one level ordinary.

The biggest disappointment was their left-arm spinner Shams Mulani (1/117 in 40 overs), who bowled too many loose deliveries.

Veteran Dhawal Kulkarni (21-3-51-0) and the seasoned Tushar Deshpande (24-8-73-1) were also