Mumbai in command
MUMBAI: Three slips, gully, point, a leg slip, forward short leg, leg gully and a leg slip is a kind of field one would usually find on fast bouncy wickets of Australia but on a breezy Thursday afternoon, the umbrella field was put in place by Mumbai captain Zaheer Khan on day two of the quarter-final clash against Maharashtra.
With the green top Wankhede wicket offering bounce and lateral carry, the Mumbai bowlers led by a fiery Shardul Thakur (4/64) ran amok and reduced the visitors to 219/7 in reply to their massive first innings score of 402 runs.
The visitors now trail by 183 runs and though three full days still remain in the match, the Rohit Motwani-led side face an uphill task of qualifying for semi-finals.
After an even first day, Maharashtra lost the plot in the first session itself when the Mumbai’s tail put on 96 runs in the morning session.
Left-arm spinner Iqbal Abulla (49 not out) batting on overnight score of nine continued to defy the visitors and shared a 62-run stand with his captain. The visitors’ poor fielding hurt them and when they did manage to clean up the tail, Mumbai had crossed the 400-run mark.
The home team came out with an attacking mindset and Thakur with his intimidating pace picked up a wicket in his first over when he trapped Motwani in front for a duck. He claimed his second wicket just 17 runs after, when the season’s top scorer Harshad Khadiwale edged one to slip for four.
India’s U-19 captain Vijay Zol, who worked hard for his 15, was dismissed by senior pro Zaheer, who got one to come in and clip the top of off-stump. With the visitors struggling at 24/3, Ankit Bawne 84 (113b, 12x4, 2x6) counter attacked and slammed four boundaries off Javed Khan after earlier surviving on five. Bawne was well supported by Kedar Jadhav, who was out soon after getting to his fifty.
Thakur returned for his third spell and removed Bawne, whose upper cut landed straight into keeper’s gloves. Now hailed as the one of the quickest bowlers in the tournament, Thakur credited Zaheer for his improved show. “My speed has gone up by four-five yards. He (Zaheer) was sharing his thoughts with me from time to time and every time it proved to be correct,” he said after the day’s play.
SCORECARD
Mumbai (1st innings): W. Jaffer c Bawne b Mundhe 44, K. Pawar c Motwani b Fallah 19, A. Tare c Fallah b Sanklecha 3, V. Indulkar c Motwani b Sanklecha 82, A. Nayar c Jadhav b Fallah 5, S. Yadav c Khurana b Sanklecha 120, I. Abdulla (not out) 49, Z. Khan c Khurana b Mundhe 39, J. Khan c&b Darekar 14, V. Dabholkar lbw b Fallah 0
Extras (nb3, w3, b9, lb8) 23 Total (in 116.3 overs) 402
FoW: 1-35, 2-55, 3-92, 4-101, 5-284, 6-295, 7-300, 8-362 , 9-397, 10-402
Bowling: Fallah 35.3-6-103-4, Sanklecha 26-5-77-3, Mundhe 26-5-77-3, Khadiwale 6-3-23-0, Darekar 16-2-60-1, Khurana 4 -0-37-0
Maharashtra (1st innings): H. Khadiwale c Indulkar b Thakur 4, R. Motwani lbw Thakur 0, V. Zol b Z. Khan 15, K. Jadhav c Tare b Dabholkar 51, A. Bawne c Tare b Thakur 84, S. Atikar c Indulkar b Thakur 8, C. Khurana ct Pawar b J. Khan 21, S. Mundhe (batting) 14, A Darekar (batting) 16. Extras (nb2, w2, b1, lb1) 6. Total (for 7 wkts in 57 overs) 219.
FoW: 1-1, 2-18, 3-24, 4-139, 5-161, 6-170, 7-191
Bowling: Z Khan 11-1-40-1, Thakur 14-0-62-57-4, J. Khan 12-1-44-1, Nayar 8-1-20-0, Dabholkar 12-4-51-1.
Karnataka set for crucial lead
Karnataka set for crucial lead
DC/ Manuja Veerappa
Bangalore: Youthful exuberance and chiseled campaigners have been the driving force of Karnataka’s Ranji Trophy success this season. They have complemented each other in equal measures all along but their shoddy display in the field in the post-lunch session on Thursday was jarring and hard to stomach.
It could well haunt the home team over the next three days.
On the second day of the quarterfinal against Uttar Pradesh at the M. Chinnaswamy stadium, Karnataka, having bowled out for 349 in the morning, had the visitors by the scruff of the neck at 65 for six but inexplicably allowed Parvinder Singh (92) and Piyush Chawla (56) to piece together a counter-attacking 110-run seventh wicket partnership as UP steered clear of the woods to finish at 221 for nine at stumps.
Luckily for them, part-timer Robin Uthappa’s golden arm sent back Parvinder eight short of a hundred in the last over the day and left Karnataka with a 128-run lead with one wicket to go.
Abhimanyu Mithun (4/70) and R. Vinay Kumar (3/49), who had put the hosts on top in the afternoon with the incisiveness, would have been a disappointed at the way the visitors slipped out of their grip.
In many ways, it’s been a survival of the fittest and the luckiest in this contest. While Karnataka had three centurions with five batsmen returning golden ducks, UP were resurrected by Parvinder (181b, 13x4) and Chawla (99b, 5x4). That said, the visitors were thankful of Karnataka’s largesse, especially from wicketkeeper C.M. Gautam as they gained a fighting total.
With UP teetering at 57 for five at lunch, Gautam, who completed his century adding 11 to his 89 in the morning, was guilty of reprieving Parvinder early in the second session. Gautam was lousy behind the wickets as he first missed a catch and then failed to recover in time to effect a stumping even as Parvinder was settling in.
Karun Nair then dropped Chawla at point and the UP batsman was again doled out a lifeline, this time by KL Rahul at first slip off Mithun. Gautam then proved to be Parvinder’s saviour once more as he missed a sitter off Vinay’s bowling.
The 32-year-old Parvinder, considered one of the most dependable in the middle order, lived up to the trust as he soldiered on with caution but ensured that the runs didn’t dry up.
In the morning with the wicket playing true, the Karnataka pacers took over from their UP counterparts and made early inroads. Skipper Vinay gave the first breakthrough sending back Mukul Dagar, who was caught by Manish Pandey at second slip after Karun failed to latch on to it at first slip.
The UP batsmen then crumbled to the pace attack with the next five departing for the addition of a mere 17 runs as the hosts scented blood. But Parvinder and Chawla came up with a brave fightback lasting an entire session before Mithun gave Karnataka the breakthrough with Gautam holding on to the edge.
But Vinay’s move to bring on Uthappa proved inspirational as the first day centurion, not necessarily known to bowl, struck pay dirt dismissing Parvinder. RP Singh, who limped away with a hamstring injury on the first day is expected to bat but will not bowl in the contest.
Earlier, medium-pacer Amit Mishra (6-106) elicited the maximum out of the green strip and dew and was instrumental in Karnataka’s collapse in less than an hour. Resuming at the overnight 297 for five, Karnataka managed to add 52 before being bowled out.
SCOREBOARD
Karnataka (I innings, O/n 297/6): CM Gautam b A. Mishra 100, Abrar Kazi b A. Mishra 23, Shreyas Gopal c Ekalavya Dwivedi b A. Rajpoot 0, R. Vinay Kumar 4, Abhimanyu Mithun b A. Mishra 13, HS Sharath c Prashant Gupta b A. Mishra, Extras: 9 (6lb, 2nb, 1w) Total (allout; 100.5 overs) 349
FoW: 6-330, 7-331, 8-331, 9-349
Bowling: RP Singh 10.4-5-19-0; Ankit Rajpoot 23-9-49-1; Amit Mishra 28.5-5-106-6; Ali Murtuza 20-3-92-2; Piyush Chawla 15.2-0-62-0; Prashant Gupta 3-0-15-0
Uttar Pradesh (I innings): Tanmay Srivastava lbw Vinay Kumar 32, Mukul Dagar c Manish Pandey b Vinay Kumar 13, Ali Murtuza c CM Gautam b HS Sharath 1, Prashant Gupta b Mithun 0, Mohammed Kaif b Mithun 0, Parvinder Singh c CM Gautam b R. Uthappa 92, Eklavya Dwivedi c CM Gautam b Vinay Kumar 2, Piyush Chawla c CM Gautam b A. Mithun 56, Amit Mishra b A. Mithun 4, Ankit Rajpoot (batting) 1. Extras: (11b, 5lb, 4nb) 20, Total: (for 9 wickets; 70.3 overs) 221
FoW: 1-24, 2-48, 3-49, 4-57, 5-57, 6-65, 7-175, 8-181, 9-221
Bowling: R. Vinay Kumar 18-2-49-3; Abhimanyu Mithun 17.5-3-70-4; H.S Sharath 10-3-20-1; Shreyas Gopal 11-2-30-0; Abrar Kazi 11-1-30-0; Manish Pandey 2.1-0-6-0; Robin Uthappa 0.3-0-0-1.