Sarfaraz Khan's 154 and Akash Anand's Ton Power Mumbai to 528 as Himachal Fight Back

Himachal Pradesh's batters finally showed some grit and gumption on Day Three of their Elite Group D Ranji Trophy match against Mumbai in Bilaspur, Himachal Pradesh, after capitulating inside 40 overs for 140 in their first innings on Day One.

Opener Innesh Mahajan (37 off 91 balls, five fours), skipper Pukhraj Mann (34 not out off 94 balls, five fours) and wicketkeeper-batter Vaibhav Kalta (14 not out off 70 balls, three fours) all did well to stonewall Mumbai and delay the visitors' charge towards an innings win. At stumps, Himachal were 144/3 in 56 overs, still trailing by 244 runs.

Mumbai's Batting Muscle

Earlier, Mumbai wicketkeeper-batter Akash Anand slammed a century (117 not out off 239 balls, 14 fours), while Sarfaraz Khan made 154 (228 balls, 19 fours) as Mumbai declared at 528/8, piling on the pressure after their dominant opening day.

The declaration left Himachal with a mountain to climb, and although the hosts avoided the sort of collapse that wrecked their first innings, Mumbai remain firmly in control heading into the closing stages of the contest.