Ranji Trophy: Dube's ton puts Mumbai in driver's seat against UP

Mumbai’s Shivam Dube celebrates his century against UP at the Wankhede Stadium yesterday. Pic/Atul Kamble

It was a mixed day for Mumbai, who had a tough first session but ended up with a decent lead of 177 against Uttar Pradesh (UP) on Day Three of their Elite Group ‘B' Ranji Trophy encounter at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday. The chief architects of Mumbai's fightback were their two all-rounders - Shivam Dube (117, 9x4, 6x6) and Shams Mulani (63, 2x4, 1x6), who battled it out for almost four hours (207 minutes) to stitch a 173-run stand for the seventh wicket.

The highlight of Dube's 130-ball knock was his patient approach mixed with some timely aggression. Dube hammered six sixes, one of which was hit straight back over UP pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar's head. His classy cover drives and straight drives thereafter forced UP skipper Nitish Rana to employ negative bowling tactics. "When the opposition is negative, it means you are on top, so that period felt really good. I feel that we dominated well," Dube, 30, told reporters after the day's play.

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This was Dube's third century in 19 first-class matches and he reckoned it's a special one. "My job was to score a hundred and take five wickets. Today [Sunday] was a great opportunity and I wanted to grab it. To play Ranji Trophy after a long time and that too back-to-back matches is challenging, but I knew I could do it. I have done it before and can do it again," added Dube when asked what was going through his mind when Mumbai lost their top six batsmen early. Mumbai pacers Mohit Avasthi (34 not out, 5x4, 1x6) and Sylvester D'Souza (two not out) also put up a fight with the bat.

Earlier, in the morning session, before Dube took charge and Mulani joined him, the visitors were totally dominant. UP pacers Aaqib Khan (3-53) and Bhuvneshwar (2-66) outclassed the Mumbai top-order throughout their lengthy spell of 10 overs each, conceding just 61 runs and dismissing five host batsmen with the score reading just 67. The hosts were in deep trouble at 86-6 when skipper Ajinkya Rahane (9) was run out following a horrible mix-up with Dube.