A little while after stumps, Mumbai captain Aditya Tare joined some of his teammates for a chat next to the sightscreen.
None of the players who were hanging around had a hearty laugh, but neither did their faces appear tense. Had Tare not upped the ante in the last hour of play on the third day of the Ranji Trophy quarterfinals against Hyderabad, the Mumbai camp would have returned to the hotel much more concerned.
Tare’s unbeaten 39 eventually helped Mumbai end the day at 102 for three in its second innings, after bowling Hyderabad out for 280.
Wicket deteriorating
The overall lead of 116, on a wicket that has started to deteriorate, may not be enough for Mumbai to feel confident enough, but Tare’s onslaught has definitely made matters difficult for Hyderabad.
With Tare deciding to play his shots, the Hyderabad medium-pacers erred in their line and length. Mohammed Siraj was too full and Tare capitalised on the half-volleys, hitting five boundaries.
Left-arm spinner Mehdi Hasan kept Tare quiet, conceding just a single off the 11 balls he bowled to the Mumbai captain.
What made matters worse for Hyderabad was the fact that K. Sumanth, the wicketkeeper who had helped Hyderabad inch closer to Mumbai’s first innings score along with the tail in the afternoon, conceded 12 byes, with the ball starting to keep low from the far end.
Earlier, Tanmay Agarwal and B. Sandeep resumed Hyderabad’s first innings at 167 for three.
Lucky Sandeep
Sandeep was lucky as he was dropped by Tare off Akshay Girap in the first hour of the morning. With the Mumbai bowlers bowling immaculate lines, the left-handed duo failed to break the shackles.
Abhishek Nayar gave Mumbai the breakthrough in the sixth over with the new ball, forcing a nick off Sandeep to Tare.
Shardul Thakur, who bowled his heart out during a 10-over spell with the second cherry, was finally rewarded for his short-ball theory against Tanmay as he chipped the ball to Praful Waghela at forward short-leg.
Had Kevin d’Almeida latched on to a regulation catch at first slip offered by Sumanth off Thakur, Mumbai could well have earned a sizeable lead.
With Sumanth holding on to one end, Mehdi went after the Mumbai bowlers and rode on his fortune.
At the break, Hyderabad was 58 runs behind Mumbai’s first innings total. Post Lunch, however, left-arm spinner Vijay Gohil changed the complexion of the game. He first snared a return catch offered by Mehdi inches off the ground, and four balls later got one to spin away from Akash Bhandari to have him caught behind.
Despite Sumanth scoring freely and farming the strike with last-man Ravi Kiran, Shardul forced a nick off the first ball of a new spell to ensure Mumbai had the psychological edge with a slender first innings lead.
The scores:
Mumbai — 1st innings: 294.
Hyderabad — 1st innings: Tanmay Agarwal c Waghela b Shardul 82, P. Akshath Reddy c Tare b Abhishek 13, B. Anirudh c Suryakumar b Abhishek 4, S. Badrinath b Abhishek 56, B. Sandeep c Tare b Abhishek 17, K. Sumanth c Tare b Shardul 44, Mehdi Hasan c & b Gohil 32, Akash Bhandari c Tare b Gohil 0, C.V. Milind c Waghela b Girap 6, Mohammed Siraj c Waghela b Gohil 0, M. Ravi Kiran (not out) 1; Extras (lb-13, nb-9, w-3): 25; Total (in 125.1 overs): 280.
Fall of wickets: 1-26, 2-30, 3-135, 4-191, 5-197, 6-255, 7-255, 8-265, 9-266.
Mumbai bowling: Shardul Thakur 25.1-11-45-2, Tushar Deshpande 23-5-73-0, Abhishek Nayar 29-9-60-4, Vijay Gohil 23-3-59-3, Akshay Girap 22-12-20-1, Suryakumar Yadav 2-0-10-0, Kevin d’Almeida 1-1-0-0.
Mumbai — 2nd innings: Kevin d’Almeida b Milind 1, Praful Waghela (batting) 27, Shreyas Iyer b Siraj 12, Suryakumar Yadav b Siraj 3, Aditya Tare (batting) 39; Extras (nb-3, w-1, b-12, lb-4): 20; Total (for three wkts. in 35 overs): 102.
Fall of wickets: 1-14, 2-32, 3-52.
Hyderabad bowling: M. Ravi Kiran 11-4-28-0, C.V. Milind 7-2-9-1, Mehdi Hasan 8-3-5-0, Mohammed Siraj 6-1-36-2, Akash Bhandari 3-2-8-0.
