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.

... contd.