Puducherry put up a stiff resistance in the second innings thanks to half-centuries from Aman Khan and Sidhaant as they pushed the Ranji Trophy Elite Group D match to the fourth day at the Wankhede Stadium on Tuesday.

Puducherry put up a stiff resistance in the second innings thanks to half-centuries from Aman Khan and Sidhaant  as they pushed the Ranji Trophy Elite Group D match to the fourth day at the Wankhede Stadium on Tuesday.

The sixth-wicket partnership of 137 runs off 191 balls between Aman and Sidhaant was the saving grace for Puducherry in a match where the visitors were only delaying the inevitable after conceding a gargantuan first-innings lead of 498 runs.

Aman Khan’s 86 off 44 balls was the highlight of the Puducherry innings and he was well supported by Sidhaant who scored 51 off 54 balls.

Puducherry ended the day at 231/6 in 45 overs.

Come the second innings following on, it seemed Puducherry were going down the same track as their first innings performance.

Ajay Rohera was caught at first slip by Sarfaraz Khan off Tushar Deshpande for no score as Mumbai began the demolition job.

Shardul Thakur then bagged the second wicket of Paras Ratnaparkhe for 1 by Akash Anand as the Mumbai pacers got into the groove.

Then Mohit Kale and Neyan Kangayan put on a semblance of a resistance as they stitched together a partnership of 35 odd runs.

Kale was the more aggressive of the two as he was going at a strike rate of 88 reaching 22 off 25 balls with four boundaries.

Puducherry were 40/2 after the completion of 11 overs in their second innings.

They reached 53/2 in 14 overs as Kale and Kangayan brought up their 50-run partnership in 69 balls with former on 36 and the latter on 17.

Puducherry went to tea at 66/2 in 17 overs with Kangayan on 31 off 51 balls while Kale was on 34 off 39 deliveries faced.

Mulani broke the 66-run partnership between Kale and Kangayan as he sent the former packing caught by substitute Sairaj Patil for 35.

The fifth-wicket partnership between Kangayan and Anand Singh Bais lasted for just 16 runs as Kotian trapped the former leg before for 42 as Puducherry were reduced to 85/4 in 25.2 overs.

Anand Singh didn’t last long himself as he holed out to Tushar Deshpande off Mulani’s bowling and was dismissed for just eight. Puducherry slipped to 91/5 at that stage and were staring at a huge innings defeat.

Thereafter, Aman Khan and Sidhaant used the long handle to good effect as they built  a 81-run partnership as Puducherry reached 172/5 in 37 overs.

Aman brought up his fifty as well as he got to 55 off 29 balls with four hits to the fence and five over it at a strike rate of 189.

The duo brought up the 100-run partnership in 72 balls and 53 minutes as Puducherry reached 200/5 in 39 overs.

Aman reached 71 and Siddhant was batting on 31 as the visitors put up a commendable fight after a listless display in the first innings.

Sidhaant struck his fifty in 49 balls while Aman was batting on 78 in 39 balls as Puducherry reached 219/5.

Earlier, Puducherry were all out for 132 in their first innings in 47.2 overs with Shardul Thakur and Tanush Kotian scalping three wickets apiece.

Tushar Deshpande and Shams Mulani claimed two wickets each as well as Mumbai dismantled the Puducherry batting without breaking a sweat.

Mohit Kale was the topscorer for Puducherry with a half-century as he cracked 53 but the rest of the batting floundered.

Mumbai pacers and spinners operated in tandem penetrating the Puducherry defences on a consistent basis giving them no room to manoeuvre.

With a first innings lead of 498 runs, the writing was on the wall for the visitors as they were going to be asked to follow-on by the home side with an innings defeat looming large.

They added 84 runs in the first session of the day losing two wickets taking lunch at 127/6 in 43 overs with Aman Khan on 10 and Sidhaant on 22.

After resumption, they lost the remaining four wickets adding just five more runs as Tanush Kotian bagged three and Shams Mulani took one wicket of Jayant Yadav.

It was a neat finishing job by a thoroughly professional Mumbai outfit.