Ruthless in Alur

Shams Mulani after his 5-39 against Uttarakhand at Alur yesterday

Left -arm spinner Shams Mulani (5-39) and opener Yashasvi Jaiswal's maiden century (103, 10x4, 2x6) helped Mumbai take a huge lead of 794 runs against Uttarakhand at stumps on Day Three of their Ranji Trophy quarter-finals in Alur, near Bangalore, on Wednesday.

Mulani claimed his fifth fifer of the season. Pacers Mohit Avasthi, Tushar Deshpande, Dhawal Kulkarni and off-spinner Tanush Kotian too helped Mumbai bundle out Uttarakhand for a paltry 114 in their first innings.

Yashasvi Jaiswal

Mumbai skipper Prithvi Shaw decided not to enforce the follow-on and opted for some batting practice in the second innings in which he scored an 80-ball 72 with the help of nine fours and a couple of sixes. Jaiswal, playing in only his second game, showed similar intent to notch up a hundred. Ex-skipper Aditya Tare, who batted at No.3, scored 57.

Mumbai declared their second innings at 261-3 in the last over of the day. "I play against every opponent with the same intention of taking wickets. Today [Wednesday] I bowled with the same spirit. Claiming five wickets in a knockout game is a good achievement and this is my season's fifth five-wicket haul. It feels nice that I am contributing to the team," said Mulani, who is leading the bowling charts with 34 scalps.

Brief scores
Mumbai 647-8d & 261-3d (Y Jaiswal 103, P Shaw 72, A Tare 57) v Uttarakhand 114 (K Singh 40; S Mulani 5-39, M Avasthi 2-22)