Mumbai 436 and 19 for 0 lead Karnataka 415 (Samarth 180, Bhavane 82, Harmeet 6-139) by 40 runs
Scorecard
Left-arm spinner Harmeet Singh's career-best innings returns of 6 for 139 kept Mumbai's hopes of a quarterfinal spot alive on the third day of their game against Karnataka at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
Harmeet's haul helped Mumbai stage a remarkable comeback and earn a vital first-innings lead against Karnataka and the left-arm spinner sparked a Karnataka collapse that saw the visitors lose their last six wickets for 78 runs. Karnataka were bowled out for 415, 21 runs short of Mumbai's first-innings total.
Karnataka lost Manish Pandey to Harmeet in the second over of the day but at lunch were on course to overhaul Mumbai's total of 436. R Samarth had converted his unbeaten 85 into a maiden first-class century - the third batsman to score a maiden first-class hundred in this match - and debutant Shishir Bhavane had raced to a sparkling fifty, taking the team to 293 for 3.
Mumbai had, however, applied the brakes a few overs before lunch with restrictive lines that dried up the runs, especially against Bhavane who was scoring at will until he crossed fifty.
After the break, as the new ball started to lose its shine, Mumbai continued with the same tactics. While pacers Shardul Thakur and Balwinder Singh Sandhu bowled wide of off-stump, Harmeet and offspinner Akshay Girap pitched outside leg. This forced Samarth, who was playing a sedate knock, to go into a shell.
The ploy ensured Karnataka scored only 27 runs off 22 overs in the first hour after lunch, losing Bhavane as the debutant edged Sandhu behind the wicket. About half an hour before tea, Shyreas Gopal, Karnataka's standout batsman of the season, tried to break the shackles with a full-blooded sweep off Girap but Abhishek Nayar leapt and pulled off a one-handed catch at square leg.
Even at 337 for 5, Karnataka were not really in trouble. With Samarth looking good for a double-century and CM Gautam, arguably the most reliable No 7 on the domestic circuit, at the crease, Karnataka continued their march towards Mumbai's total. In the last over before tea, Harmeet started the collapse.
Gautam tried to fend one that was pitched on the leg stump but the ball rose slightly to take the edge of his bat to Suryakumar Yadav at first-slip. Karnataka at that stage were 78 runs adrift of the target and were hoping for captain Vinay Kumar and Abhimanyu Mithun - both decent batsmen - to see them through along with Samarth.
The tide turned in Mumbai's favour soon after tea as Harmeet bowled the ball of the innings in the seventh over after the break. The ball rose sharply and surprised Samarth, and lobbed to Yadav off the shoulder of the bat. That wicket allowed Mumbai to put pressure and despite Mithun's 21-ball 22, Karnataka fell short of earning at least three points. Harmeet picked up four wickets in 31 balls either side of the tea break.
The only scare Mumbai had was when Udit Patel was dropped off Shardul Thakur, at second slip by Shreyas Iyer. Karnataka were 411 for 8 then. But Harmeet, who had earlier completed his second five-wicket haul by fooling Vinay through flight, trapped Patel in front of the wicket in the next over. Thakur then completed the rout by forcing a nick off S Aravind's willow and burst into a wild sprint towards the Sunil Gavaskar pavilion.
