3:57pm: Madhya Pradesh 162 runs ahead, which is a decisive lead considering the winner can be decided on first-innings advantage. There are 29 overs left in the day yet - although the cloudy weather with rain around makes that challenging - and Mumbai will only hope to not lose quick wickets. More importantly, no Jaiswal to come out to bat. Three centurions in the innings for MP - Yash Dubey, Shubham Sharma and Rajat Patidar while Saransh Jain was equally impressive in his maiden first-class half-century.

3:45pm : Saransh Jain and Gaurav Yadav, the two batters, are out for the final session. Tushar Deshpande to start off from around the wicket to the left-hander. No slip, only a gully in place.

Amol Muzumdar, the Mumbai coach, comes out to inspect the pitch. Afzal says the crowd hasn't moved, they've waited patiently for the play to resume. Intense discussion in the Mumbai huddle with all the coaches joining in.

3:35pm And we have some good news from Afzal. Play is scheduled to resume at 3:45pm IST. The scheduled closing time for today is 5:30pm, which means a minimum of 33 overs left for the day. Overall time lost - 18 mins. This will be made up tomorrow. If minimum of 33 overs are not completed by 5:30pm, play will be extended by 30 mins.

Sun peeking out of clouds, informs Afzal as we wait.

3:20pm: The one thing about Chinnaswamy Stadium though is that once rain relents the state of the art drainage system makes sure that it won't take long for play to restart. Here's more about the excellent drainage system at the stadium.

Deb: "Mumbai shouldn't be disheartened if they have their backs against the wall here. Having reached this far after the disappointing and premature exits in the previous seasons and having faced a lot of flak for the same. Would have been interesting to have Siddhesh Lad and Shivam Dube in the playing 11. Cheer up Lads!"

3:14pm Afzal Jiwani has an update. Ground staff coming out as the rain has almost stopped. They are welcomed with huge cheers from the crowd present here at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. The umpires are also out for an inspection.

Thanks, Himanshu. Still some rain though it is down to a light drizzle.

All right, time for Ashish to have some chatter now.

Sundar: "On the parallel universe a team trailing by 65 Runs with only 4 wickets in hand is looking favorites there whereas here a team with lead of 155 Runs a wicket to go needs to play carefully to seal the Trophy." --- Such are life's realities.

3.05pm The rain has lightened to a drizzle now.

Ritesh: "Sarfaraz Khan has been simply outstanding and deserve a chance to be in Blue outfit." --- No doubt. With 937 runs in eight innings, the second-highest run-getter is a faraway 309 behind.

2.55pm There is no sign of the rain relenting, Afzal says from the ground. Meanwhile, you can let us know which player has impressed you most this Ranji season.

George: "Imitation is the best form of flattery. MP are emulating Mumbai in the quarters and the semis by batting the other team slowly and surely out of the match."

Kunal Savarkar: "Am outside the stadium. Raining fairly hard. Watched play yesterday, and was amazed to see there were a couple of thousand fans rooting for Patidar, clearly a favourite!" --- Inevitable. My colleague Raghav just wondered where the weather updates were. But yeah, Patidar has become a local favourite.

2.40pm It is still raining at the Chinnaswamy, as we see the visuals. The players hang around the dressing room, hoping and waiting for play to start.

Anyway, it is time for a break for the players, as I slip into a quiet tea lunch myself. We will keep updating you regarding the state of the weather and the play, and so do hang around. See you in 15.

Pramod: "to rub the salt on Mumbai's wound MP should declare as its cloudy also and have some confidence" --- But wouldn't that be a gamble with four sessions of play left? My guess is MP would like to play safe.

Skand: "With each drop of rain, falls the scarce chance of Mumbai getting their 42nd."

2.20pm Groundstaff ready with the covers, and the umpires call for them. Play stopped again, with MP 155 ahead. That is also officially an early tea break. It is pelting down now, Afzal reports.

Raining again, Afzal says

Mumbai now trying to save the single

Over the wicket now

Phani: "Another good thing that the MP team also did is to eat away close to 175 overs.That is a lot of game time in such situations."

Adarsh Jain: "Why Himanshu why? Why you jinxed the Kartikeya" --- Ah, never the plan. Maybe I can make up for it later. Don't ask me how though.