Right from the moment Jharkhand conceded a 244-run first-innings lead against Mumbai in its Ranji Trophy quarterfinal match at the SDNR Wadiyar Stadium here, a defeat seemed inevitable.
But the manner of it on Saturday morning will no doubt make the team seethe. Resuming on 28 for one, Jharkhand, steadily, inch-by-inch, got to 64 in roughly an hour’s time only to lose all its bearings in a madcap 40-minute period.
From 64 for one, it crashed to 94 all out to hand Mumbai a massive 395-run win and with it the smoothest of passages to the semifinals where it will meet either Madhya Pradesh or Bengal.
Opener Jay Bista gave a stellar account of his secondary skill, bowling a spell of 6.4-1-16-5, and in tandem with Iqbal Abdulla, who bowled a spell of 8-2-24-4 and capped a fine all-round performance, reduced Jharkhand to rubble.
The offie started the slide by scalping S.P. Gautam leg-before on 27, a price the latter paid for playing on the back-foot when the ball was routinely keeping low. It was a folly other batsmen would commit too, most noticeably Ishank Jaggi to Bista and Kaushal Singh to Abdulla.
The 20-year old then had batting mainstay Saurabh Tiwary and skipper Shahbaz Nadeem both stumped off successive deliveries that drifted down the leg side. And when he forced Jaskaran Singh to hole out to Siddhesh Lad at long-on, he had more than made up for a not-so-good outing with the bat.
“I was concentrating on keeping it tight,” he said later. “I bowled in the right areas and the pitch did the rest.”
“There were a few patches on the wicket,” said Abdulla. “A right-hander could have batted but could have been an issue for a left-hander. So credit also goes to our batsmen Akhil [Herwadkar] and others.”
Jharkhand coach Rajiv Kumar said the two-month gap in the competition during which his team played only limited-overs cricket had an effect.
The scores:
Mumbai — 1st innings: 416
Jharkhand — 1st innings: 172
Mumbai — 2nd innings: 245
Jharkhand — 2nd innings: S.P. Gautam b Bista 27, Anand Singh c Shreyas b Abdulla 12, Virat Singh c Sufiyan b Abdulla 26, Saurabh Tiwary st. Sufiyan b Bista 4, Ishank Jaggi lbw Bista 2, Kumar Deobrat c Sufiyan b Abdulla 1, Kaushal Singh lbw b Abdulla 0, Rahul Shukla c Suryakumar b Abdulla 6, Shahbaz Nadeem st. Sufiyan b Bista 0, Jaskaran Singh c Siddhesh b Bista 6, Samar Quadri (not out) 10; Total (in 42.4 overs): 94.
Fall of wickets: 1-19, 2-64, 3-66, 4-69, 5-72, 6-72, 7-72, 8-72, 9-84.
Mumbai bowling: Shardul Thakur 5-0-13-0, Abhishek Nayar 3-0-13-0, Iqbal Abdulla 16-5-35-5, Vishal Dhabolkar 10-5-13-0, Suryakumar Yadav 2-0-4-0, Jay Bista 6.4-1-16-5.
Man-of-the-match: Akhil Herwadkar.
