Bengaluru: On a day when two youngsters, H.S. Sharath (3/32) and Shreyas Gopal (3/52) from Karnataka, shone with the ball, the Mumbai unit, known for their ability to take the challenge to the opponent’s camp, did well to resist the home team’s attack.
On Monday, the second day of the Ranji Trophy Group A contest between the two table toppers here, Mumbai rode on a patient batting show from Hiken Shah (59) and Siddhesh Lad (44 batting) to claw back to 217 for 7. This left Mumbai 34 runs short of Karnataka’s first innings total of 251.
Earlier, the Karnataka tailenders, who have made handy efforts with the bat in recent times, failed to negotiate Shardul Thakur’s medium pace. At the M. Chinnaswamy stadium, three wickets, including that of opener and centurion K.L Rahul (133), fell in the first 33 minutes, while just 23 runs were added to the overnight 228-7.
Abhimanyu Mithun was the first to go, to a contentious leg before decision off a Thakur delivery which kept low. Rahul followed soon after trying to snatch an extra run, but fell short of the crease.
Thakur then chipped in with K.P. Appanna’s wicket, caught by Javed Khan. Thakur finished with impressive figures of 4/65. Mumbai were cautious to start with against the opening bowling combination of R. Vinay Kumar and Abhimanyu Mithun who bowled in the right areas without luck.
Youngster Sharath gave the hosts the first breakthrough in the 16th over. Changing from the pavilion to the far end, he had Aditya Tare caught at second slip by Manish Pandey and then trapped the experienced and in-form Wasim Jaffer for a duck. Kaustubh Pawar followed his skipper in the same over.
Soon, Pawar was adjudged caught behind by C.M. Gautam in a contentious decision by umpire Amit Choudhary as it appeared Pawar did not edge the ball. That left Mumbai reeling at 39 for 3 at lunch.
Shah held on at one end. After Suryakumar Yadav was bowled by Mithun, Shah partnered Lad to bring about some stability.
It was then the turn of 20-year-old Shreyas Gopal to torment the visiting batsmen. Known for his batting prowess, Shreyas, also an effective leg spinner, claimed his maiden first class wicket, with Shah caught at backward point by Karun Nair. He also accounted for Subramanian DoraisÂwamy (15) and later Shardul Thakur.
Staring down the barrel at 136-6 at tea, Mumbai were in trouble before Lad, who was handed a reprieve when he batting at 38, held fort with Javed Khan to see the day through, which ended early due to bad light.
Karnataka could have been in a better position but missed a bowler after Vinay Kumar exited due to an ankle niggle just before tea and did not return. Another injury concern was that of their star batsman Rahul, who is said to be nursing a groin injury. He too did not take to the field after his brief batting stint in the morning.
With a meager deficit for Mumbai to catch up on, the next two days are set to be interesting.
SCOREBOARD: Karnataka I innings (O/N 228/7): K.L Rahul run out 133, Abhimanyu Mithun lbw S. Thakur 9, KP Appanna c Javed Khan lbw Thakur 7, HS Sharath n.o 0, Extras: 16 (7nb, 1w (5), 4lb) Total: 251 (allout; 98.3 overs).
FoW: 8-231, 9-249.
Bowling: Javed Khan 22-7-47-1, Saurabh Natrawalkar 18-6-35-1, Shardul Thakur 22.3-2-65-4, Kaustubh Pawar 2-1-5-0, Vishal Dabholkar 29-3-82-2; Suryakumar Yadav 5-1-13-1.
Mumbai I innings: Kaustubh Pawar c CM Gautam b HS Sharath 15, Aditya Tare c M. Pandey b HS Sharath 18, Wasim Jaffer lbw HS Sharath 0, Hiken Shah c K. Nair b Shreyas 44, Suryakumar Yadav 7, Siddhesh Lad batting 59, Subramanian Doraiswamy c Binny b Shreyas 15, Shardul Thakur b Shreyas 18, Javed Khan batting 33, Extras 8 (3lb,5b). Total 217 (7 wickets; 76 overs)
FoW: 1-28, 2-34, 3-35, 4-61, 5-99, 6-129, 7-161
Bowling: R. Vinay Kumar 8-2-16-0; Abhimanyu Mithun 15-2-58-1; HS Sharath 15-6-32-3; Stuart Binny12-6-24-0; KP Appanna 11-0-27-0; Shreyas Gopal 15-2-52-3.
