After a near-total domination of Day Two, Mumbai have Bengal staring at a follow-on and worse in their Ranji Trophy Elite Group B tie at the Eden Gardens.
Mumbai dismissed the hosts for a mere 199 before stumps were drawn on Saturday. Anustup Majumdar stood tall amidst the ruins with an unbeaten 108, his 16th first-class century and the third this season.
Earlier, Shivam Dube & Co added 82 to the overnight 330 for six, 65 of them coming from the last pair of Dhawal Kulkarni and Royston Dias. Number 11 Dias remained unbeaten with a 43-ball 46 that had seven boundaries and a six.
Suraj Jaiswal, in only his third first-class game, finished with six for 124. The 24-year-old pacer had picked up eight wickets, including a fifer, when Bengal played Assam in Guwahati last week. When the hosts began their reply, the pitch was still aiding movement. Lacking
Having Bengal tottering at 11 for three by the eighth over, Mumbai faced a roadblock in skipper Manoj Tiwary and Majumdar. The veterans, both flush from centuries in the Assam match, stitched together 78 runs for the fourth wicket but it seemingly failed to inspire their teammates.
Dube broke the partnership by having Tiwary, 38, edge one for second slip Prithvi Shaw to dive to his right and pull off a fine catch. Majumdar, 39, stayed put even as Bengal’s batting crumbled around him, for a 127-ball innings punctuated by 12 boundaries and three sixes.