Ranji Trophy HIGHLIGHTS Semifinals, Day 3: Jaiswal, Jaffer extend Mumbai lead to 346 at Stumps; Patidar puts MP in command

Welcome to SportStar's live blog of Day 3 of the Ranji Trophy semifinals in Bengaluru.

RANJI TROPHY COMMENTARY:

Bengal vs MP | Ayan: Rajat Patidar reaches his fifty with a boundary. He has been the wall for MP this innings. Bengal have gone flat in the final session.

Mumbai vs UP | Amol: Saurabh Kumar throws Shaw a challenge of playing against the turn and he top-edges a sweep in the deep. Jaiswal is finally off the mark off the 54th ball, with a whip through square leg off Ankit Rajpoot that raced for a four. He acknowledges the applayse from the change-room.

Mumbai vs UP | Amol: Yashasvi Jaiswal has now faced 50 balls, without opening his account. And the Mumbai dressing room applauds his effort, asking him to keep applying himself at the crease. Shaw is unperturbed at the other end.

Mumbai vs UP | Amol texts: Mumbai's opening partnership is 51. Shaw, dropped on 13, is batting 50 (56b, 9x4). Jaiswal is batting 0 (38b). Shaw races from 42 to 54 with three fantastic fours off Prince Yadav in an over. The whip through midwicket took the cake.

Bengal vs MP | Ayan: Shubham Sharma has retired hurt after being struck on the elbow by Akash Deep before lunch. Captain Aditya Shrivatsava, who has joined Patidar, has been gifted two leg stump half volleys by Mukesh Kumar. MP pulling away now.

Mumbai vs UP | Amol: 67 mins after lunch, Mumbai bundle out Uttar Pradesh's innings for 180. With a lead of 213 runs, Mumbai will bat again and hope to kill the contest. Can UP make second successive second-innings comeback?

Bengal vs MP | Ayan: Shahbaz Ahmed is in the middle of an excellent spell. Umpiring is in focus here. Vineet Kulkarni gave Yash Dubey out lbw when the ball was clearly sliding down leg while Ravikant Reddy showed great composure in standing by his not out decision after the Bengal fielders went up in vociferous appeal for caught behind. Replays confirmed Shubham Sharma's bat was nowhere near the ball. MP 49/1 in 21 overs.

Mumbai vs UP | Amol: Deshpande is running through the lower order. Having got Prince Yadav caught in the slips and bowling a quick one to Yash Dayal that crashed into the stumps, Deshpande greets No. 11 Ankit Rajpoot with a bouncer. It thuds into the side of his helmet and Rajpoot is visibly shaken. He sat down on the floor, went through a medical assessment and took guard after a five-minute interval. Deshpande apologises to Rajpoot. Fast bowlers' pact, anyone?

Mumbai vs UP | Amol: Mumbai have steamrolled UP's middle over to virtually seal the fate of the semifinal in a session that saw them pick five wickets for 106 runs in 29 overs. Mohit Avasthi, the medium-pacer, and offie Tanush Avasthi have shared all five wickets as the teams take lunch with UP at 131 for seven.

Mumbai vs UP | Amol: Mohit Avasthi and Tanush Kotian are wreaking havoc at Just Cricket Academy. In just 16 balls, the duo has shared four wickets to leave UP tottering at 107/7.

Bengal vs MP | update from Ayan: And the stocks of Shahbaz Ahmed continue to rise. He brings up his 100 now to loud cheers from the Bengal dressing room. Standing ovation from Arun Lal, other coaches and Manoj Tiwary, who's still padded up.

Mumbai vs UP | Amol texts: Karan Sharma hooked Tushar Deshpande for a six that sails over the netted fence but Mohit Avasthi gets rid of the UP captain, thanks to a diving catch by Sarfaraz Khan. At drinks, UP 64/3.

Bengal vs MP | Manoj Tiwary falls just after reaching the three figure mark. Puneet Datey gets his first wicket of the match. Sayan Mondal follows Tiwary's footsteps. Bengal loses two quick wickets. Madhya Pradesh bounces back in the match. Shahbaz Ahmed nears ton. Bengal 237/7.

Mumbai vs UP | Amol: Madhav Kaushik has played two delightful drives off Tushar, straight down the ground and through covers, so far on a sunny morning. UP 47/2.

Bengal vs MP | Ayan: Manoj Tiwary brings up his second consecutive 100, keeping Bengal's Ranji Trophy dream alive. Acknowledges the support of his wife and son by holding up a note in celebration. However much to his disappointment, he was caught shortly after. Bengal 233/5.

As the morning session resumes on Day 3 of the Ranji Trophy 2021-2022 semifinals, Manoj Tiwary and Shahbaz Ahmed will look forward to raising their hands after steering a fightback for Bengal on Thursday. Tiwary is currently batting on 84, while Shahbaz scored an unbeaten 72.

Earlier on the second day of the proceedings, coming to bat after Madhya Pradesh's innings ended on 341, Bengal found itself in big trouble, losing five wickets for mere 54 runs. However, an unbeaten 143 runs partnership for the sixth wicket between Tiwary and Shahbaz meant Bengal managed to keep it in the thick of the action.

Meanwhile, in the second semifinal, Uttar Pradesh is trailing by 368 runs after losing Samarth Singh and Priyam Garg at the fag end of the second day's play. On Thursday, when the match will resume, Mumbai will look to pick up a few quick wickets to pile on the misery on Uttar Pradesh.

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