Hiken Shah show keeps Mumbai ticking against Orissa

Even after the formidable 222-run partnership with Wasim Jaffer came to an end,Shah continued the charge,as he took just 31 balls to move from 100 to 150. A quickfire partnership of 99 from 95 balls with Suryakumar Yadav for the fourth fell short of the milestone when Shah was given out leg-before off left-arm spinner Dhiraj Singh with the Mumbai score at 391.

The Mumbai bandwagon chugged on and saw the much-awaited debut of 42-year-old Pravin Tambe. Jaffer finally declared the Mumbai innings over after moving past the 500-mark.

Jaffers decision was justified as Orissa lost three wickets in the final session. To compound the matters captain Biplab Samantray retired-hurt after facing two deliveries when he got hit on the back of the neck,courtesy a Shardul Thakur bouncer. Natraj Behera and Abhilash Mallick counter-attacked with an unbroken 43-run partnership,taking Odisha to 79 for three at stumps.

After the days play,Samantray stated that an ideal score for his side to chase would have been 400. They got a hundred runs more but we still have some good stroke makers left to bat,so we are confident that we can make the target given that this is a good batting track, he said.

Brief scores: Mumbai 501/9 decl. H Shah 170,W Jaffer 143; B Mohanty 3/73,Dhiraj Singh 3/117 vs Orissa 79/3 Natraj Behera 45; Javed Khan 2/7.