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Sensational spell by Nayar

G. Viswanath

Ahmedabad: Mumbai medium-pacer Abhishek Nayar tricked half-a-dozen Himachal Pradesh batsmen in a sensational and lion-hearted display on the opening day of their Ranji quarterfinal at the Motera here on Friday.

Nayar, weakened and rendered out of action for a major part of the Super League due to dengue, had recuperated just enough to test his strength against Punjab at the Brabourne Stadium last week.

Though skipper Wasim Jaffer had assigned a batting role for him, Nayar’s chance to strike the big blows came with the ball first.

His six for 45 in three spells helped Mumbai restrict Himachal to 250 after winning the toss. Vinayak Samant and Jaffer then faced an awkward six overs as Mumbai closed the day at 19 without loss.

Bad start

The happy ending did not have a good start for Mumbai, though. Desperate for wickets, the out-of-form Ajit Agarkar began the proceedings with successive short balls which the in-form Bhavin Thakkar ducked underneath without fuss.

Agarkar bowled a wicketless spell of seven overs and so did partner Dhawal Kulkarni. The latter overstepped the popping crease eight times during this spell, and 11 times overall.

The Himachal openers, Thakkar and Sangram Singh, hung around for an hour and 40 minutes, adding 50.

Two appeals, when Sangram defended without offering the bat, did not impress the umpires Sanjiv Rao and Shavir Tarapore.

The breakthrough

Standing at second slip, Jaffer looked a disappointed man. After all, he had sent Himachal in, expecting his three-pronged seam attack to rip off the top-order. Disappointment turned to delight when Jaffer saw a snick heading his way at comfortable height when Nayar dragged Sangram across.

The Mumbai medium-pacer then removed Vineet Indulkar for a first ball duck and trapped Mukesh Sharma in front.

Kulkarni forced Thakkar to flick to Powar at square-leg and also got rid of Paras Dogra as Himachal was reduced to 74 for five.

Reviving the innings

The sixth wicket pair of Ajay Mannu (61, 97b, 8x4, 1x6) and off-spinner Sarandeep Singh (75, 121b, 6x4) rescued the team with a 101-run association.

Leg-spinner Sairaj Bahutule, playing his 100th Ranji match, could not make any impression on the flat wicket.

In the session between lunch and tea, Himachal made 107 runs and lost just one wicket.

Thereafter, Sarandeep and Vishal Bhatia added 48 for the seventh wicket before Nayar returned to break the stand and mop up the tail.

The scores:

Himachal Pradesh — 1st innings: B. Thakkar c Powar b Kulkarni 29, Sangram Singh c Jaffer b Nayar 13, V. Indulkar lbw b Nayar 0, P. Dogra b Kulkarni 12, M. Sharma lbw b Nayar 4, A. Mannu c Samant b Powar 61, Sarandeep Singh c Bahutule b Nayar 75, V. Bhatia (not out) 21, A. Thakur b Powar 8, V. Malik b Nayar 7, J. Mehta b Nayar 0; Extras (lb-2, nb-17, w-1): 20; Total (in 80.5 overs): 250.

Fall of wickets: 1-50, 2-50, 3-50, 4-64, 5-74, 6-175, 7-223, 8-237, 9-244.

Mumbai bowling: Agarkar 11-1-32-0, Kulkarni 19-2-45-2, Shaikh 12-0-46-0, Nayar 17.5-6-45-6, Bahutule 11-1-50-0, Powar 10-1-30-2.

Mumbai — 1st innings: V. Samant (batting) 14, W. Jaffer (batting) 0; Extras (nb-5): 5; Total (for no loss in six overs): 19.

Himachal Pradesh bowling: Thakur 3-0-8-0, Malik 3-0-11-0.

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