A tale of two contrasting halves left the Ranji Trophy final between giants Mumbai and dark horse Saurashtra poised for a close finish after the second day’s play. Shreyas Iyer’s vividness with the willow first gave Mumbai the upper hand but the all-pace Saurashtra attack, led by Jaydev Unadkat, clawed its way back later in the day by dismantling the Mumbai middle order.
At the end of Thursday’s play at the Maharashtra Cricket Association’s stadium at Gahunje, Mumbai was placed at 262 for eight in the first innings, with a slender advantage of 27 runs in reply to Saurashtra’s total of 235.
Had it not been for Shreyas’s brilliance, backed by Suryakumar Yadav during their 152-run association for the third wicket, Mumbai could well have been staring down the barrel. On the other hand, despite the late surge by its pacemen, Saurashtra would be ruing a missed opportunity — Arpit Vasavada dropping Shreyas off Deepak Punia low to his left when the batsman was on 37 — early on during the batsman’s sensational innings on a track that remained pace-friendly.
Despite the life, Shreyas needs to be given all the credit for registering his fourth century of the season. The moment he flicked the first ball he faced — third of the innings after Unadkat had induced an edge off in-form opener Akhil Herwadkar into slips — through the midwicket region, it was a warning that he was in a mood to play a trademark, aggressive innings.
A spree of boundaries early on in the innings, unleashing straight drives, cover drives and punches through off-side, meant Saurashtra couldn’t continue the pressure created with Unadkat’s impressive eight-over opening spell, which also saw Bhavin Thakkar, the other opener, being castled with one that held its line after pitching in the channel.
However, Shreyas gifted his wicket away four minutes before the end of the extended second session with a tired drive off Chirag Jani that rested into captain Jaydev Shah’s hands at deepish mid-off.
Once the dazzler had been dismissed, Saurashtra bowlers suddenly seemed to have found their mojo. It resulted in Mumbai losing five wickets for the addition of 78 runs in the last session, with Hardik Rathod emerging as the most successful bowler.
Though Unadkat didn’t add to his wicket tally, he continued to trouble every batsman he bowled to. Not to forget the cameo he played with the bat early in the morning that helped Saurashtra inch closer to the 250-run.
The scores: Saurashtra — 1st innings: Avi Barot c Iyer b Kulkarni 14, Sagar Jogiyani c Tare b Thakur 8, Cheteshwar Pujara c Yadav b Kulkarni 4, Arpit Vasavada c Yadav b Kulkarni 77, Sheldon Jackson c Herwadkar b Sandhu 0, Jaydev Shah c Tare b Kulkarni 13, Chirag Jani c Tare b Thakur 13, Deepak Punia c Yadav b Nayar 6, Prerak Mankad c Yadav b Kulkarni 66, Jaydev Unadkat c Herwadkar b Thakur 31, Hardik Rathod (not out) 0; Extras (b-1, lb-1, w-1) 3; Total (in 93.2 overs) 235.
Fall of wickets: 1-22, 2-22, 3-36, 4-42, 5-77, 6-95, 7-108, 8-192, 9-235.
Mumbai bowling: Dhawal Kulkarni 23-6-42-5, Shardul Thakur 21.2-4-89-3, Abhishek Nayar 24-11-42-1, Balwinder Singh Sandhu 19-6-41-1, Iqbal Abdulla 4-1-11-0, Akhil Herwadkar 1-0-5-0, Suryakumar Yadav 1-0-3-0.
Mumbai — 1st innings: Akhil Herwadkar c Jackson b Unadkat 0, Bhavin Thakkar b Unadkat 6, Shreyas Iyer c Shah b Jani 117, Suryakumar Yadav c Pujara b Punia 48, Aditya Tare c Vasavada b Jani 19, Siddhesh Lad (batting) 22, Abhishek Nayar lbw Rathod 19, Dhawal Kulkarni b Rathod 1, Shardul Thakur c Pujara b Rathod 0, Iqbal Abdulla (batting) 9. Extras (b-4, lb-2, nb-12, w-3) 21; Total (for eight wkts. in 66 overs) 262.
Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-23, 3-175, 4-195, 5-205, 6-235, 7-250, 8-250.
Saurashtra bowling: Jaydev Unadkat 17-3-55-2, Hardik Rathod 11-2-44-3, Prerak Mankad 3-0-18-0, Deepak Punia 21-4-93-1, Chirag Jani 14-2-46-2.
At the end of Thursday’s play at the Maharashtra Cricket Association’s stadium at Gahunje, Mumbai was placed at 262 for eight in the first innings, with a slender advantage of 27 runs in reply to Saurashtra’s total of 235.
Had it not been for Shreyas’s brilliance, backed by Suryakumar Yadav during their 152-run association for the third wicket, Mumbai could well have been staring down the barrel. On the other hand, despite the late surge by its pacemen, Saurashtra would be ruing a missed opportunity — Arpit Vasavada dropping Shreyas off Deepak Punia low to his left when the batsman was on 37 — early on during the batsman’s sensational innings on a track that remained pace-friendly.
Despite the life, Shreyas needs to be given all the credit for registering his fourth century of the season. The moment he flicked the first ball he faced — third of the innings after Unadkat had induced an edge off in-form opener Akhil Herwadkar into slips — through the midwicket region, it was a warning that he was in a mood to play a trademark, aggressive innings.
A spree of boundaries early on in the innings, unleashing straight drives, cover drives and punches through off-side, meant Saurashtra couldn’t continue the pressure created with Unadkat’s impressive eight-over opening spell, which also saw Bhavin Thakkar, the other opener, being castled with one that held its line after pitching in the channel.
However, Shreyas gifted his wicket away four minutes before the end of the extended second session with a tired drive off Chirag Jani that rested into captain Jaydev Shah’s hands at deepish mid-off.
Once the dazzler had been dismissed, Saurashtra bowlers suddenly seemed to have found their mojo. It resulted in Mumbai losing five wickets for the addition of 78 runs in the last session, with Hardik Rathod emerging as the most successful bowler.
Though Unadkat didn’t add to his wicket tally, he continued to trouble every batsman he bowled to. Not to forget the cameo he played with the bat early in the morning that helped Saurashtra inch closer to the 250-run.
The scores: Saurashtra — 1st innings: Avi Barot c Iyer b Kulkarni 14, Sagar Jogiyani c Tare b Thakur 8, Cheteshwar Pujara c Yadav b Kulkarni 4, Arpit Vasavada c Yadav b Kulkarni 77, Sheldon Jackson c Herwadkar b Sandhu 0, Jaydev Shah c Tare b Kulkarni 13, Chirag Jani c Tare b Thakur 13, Deepak Punia c Yadav b Nayar 6, Prerak Mankad c Yadav b Kulkarni 66, Jaydev Unadkat c Herwadkar b Thakur 31, Hardik Rathod (not out) 0; Extras (b-1, lb-1, w-1) 3; Total (in 93.2 overs) 235.
Fall of wickets: 1-22, 2-22, 3-36, 4-42, 5-77, 6-95, 7-108, 8-192, 9-235.
Mumbai bowling: Dhawal Kulkarni 23-6-42-5, Shardul Thakur 21.2-4-89-3, Abhishek Nayar 24-11-42-1, Balwinder Singh Sandhu 19-6-41-1, Iqbal Abdulla 4-1-11-0, Akhil Herwadkar 1-0-5-0, Suryakumar Yadav 1-0-3-0.
Mumbai — 1st innings: Akhil Herwadkar c Jackson b Unadkat 0, Bhavin Thakkar b Unadkat 6, Shreyas Iyer c Shah b Jani 117, Suryakumar Yadav c Pujara b Punia 48, Aditya Tare c Vasavada b Jani 19, Siddhesh Lad (batting) 22, Abhishek Nayar lbw Rathod 19, Dhawal Kulkarni b Rathod 1, Shardul Thakur c Pujara b Rathod 0, Iqbal Abdulla (batting) 9. Extras (b-4, lb-2, nb-12, w-3) 21; Total (for eight wkts. in 66 overs) 262.
Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-23, 3-175, 4-195, 5-205, 6-235, 7-250, 8-250.
Saurashtra bowling: Jaydev Unadkat 17-3-55-2, Hardik Rathod 11-2-44-3, Prerak Mankad 3-0-18-0, Deepak Punia 21-4-93-1, Chirag Jani 14-2-46-2.
