Ranji Trophy: Iyer, Patil put Mumbai in strong position against Baroda

Vadodara: Shreyas Iyer and Nikhil Patil struck half centuries as Mumbai declared at 304 for 9 to put themselves in a strong position on the third and penultimate day of their Ranji Trophy cricket match against Baroda here on Saturday.

Iyer stroked his way to 90 from just 92 balls with 12 fours and two sixes while Patil remained not out on 50 from 78 deliveries from which he hit four boundaries and one six as Mumbai declared their second innings at 304 for 9 to set an unlikely target of 408 for Baroda for a win.

Mumbai scored at a brisk pace at 4.53 run per over, hitting the 304 runs in just 67 overs. The highlight of Mumbai innings was the 114-run stand for the fifth wicket between Iyer and Siddhesh Lad (48) as the duo revived the visiting side innings after they were reduced to 84 for 4 at one stage.

Yusuf Pathan claimed five wickets with his off-spin but that proved to be not enough to stop Mumbai from crossing the 300-run mark.

Baroda, who were shot out for 184 in just 54.3 overs in their first innings yesterday, were 67 for 2 from 20 overs in their second essay at the draw of stumps today.

Baroda still require another 341 runs with 8 second innings wickets in hand with one day left in the Group A match at the Moti Bagh Stadium.

Opener Saurabh Wakaskar and Deepak Hooda were at the crease on 33 and 30 respectively at close of play. The other opener and captain Aditya Waghmode was out for a duck in the sixth over after facing 15 deliveries while one-down Hardik Pandya was dismissed for just one after facing 17 balls.

Brief Scores:

Mumbai: 287 & 304/9 decl in 67 overs (Shreyas Iyer 90, Nikhil Patil 50 not out; Yusuf Pathan 5/80)

Baroda: 184 & 67/2 in 20 overs.

PTI