Rajasthan was on the verge of scripting history on the penultimate day of its Ranji Trophy quarterfinal match against Mumbai at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium here on Sunday.
The home team, resuming at 236 for one, rode on a solid batting performance to end the day at 484 for seven in its first innings and take a massive lead of 232 runs against the defending champion.
With just a day left, the result is a foregone conclusion since it is destined to be decided on the basis of first innings scores if one discounts the theoretical permutations and combinations.
If it wins, it would be Rajasthan's first-ever victory over the 39-time champion.
The unbeaten overnight duo of Vineet Saxena and Hrishikesh Kanitkar overhauled the target in the 13th over of the day. Rashmi Ranjan Parida and young Ashok Menaria built on the lead to help Rajasthan come within the reach of a semifinal berth.
Kanitkar (113, 309b, 465m, 16x4) scored his 29th century and third of the season in the morning before missing the line against Abhishek Nayar, who made the most of the cold and windy conditions. The home skipper, who also surpassed 9000 runs in first class cricket, had gathered 240 runs with Saxena before his departure.
Saxena (143, 425b, 591m, 19x4, 1x6) batted with unwavering focus before trying in vain a big shot off Iqbal Abdullah. He was caught at mid-on by Ramesh Powar.
Good stroke-play
Parida and Menaria, however, waited patiently to settle down before unleashing their attractive stroke-play. On his way to his 39th half-century, Parida (53, 123b, 99m, 9x4) played three classy boundaries in an Avishkar Salvi over.
Menaria (71 batting, 136b, 4x4, 5x6), making a comeback after a groin surgery, was the more destructive of the two. The 20-year-old, struck three clean sixes off Abdullah and two off Powar.
“I was under pressure to perform. So, I took some time to judge the ball properly. This is my natural game and I enjoy playing my strokes,” said Menaria, playing his fourth first class match.
Menaria and Parida put on 78 runs before the latter edged Nayar to stand-in wicketkeeper Rohit Sharma. Menaria, along with Vivek Yadav (38, 75b, 90m, 8x4), compounded Mumbai's woes by building an entertaining 83-run stand for the sixth wicket.
The visiting team's frustration brimmed over with a few of its players getting into verbal duels with the batsmen.
The umpires had to intervene to pacify the situation. Rohit was fined 50 per cent of his match fees for using abusive language against one of the umpires.
Nayar accounted for four host batsmen to emerge as the best Mumbai bowler.
The scores:
Mumbai — 1st innings: 252.
Rajasthan — 1st innings: A. Chopra lbw b Agarkar 17, V. Saxena c Powar b Abdullah 143, H. Kanitkar lbw b Nayar 113, R. Bisht c Gurav b Nayar 4, R.R. Parida c Rohit b Nayar 53, A. Menaria (batting) 71, V. Yadav c Powar b Abdullah 38, P. Singh b Nayar 1, Extras (b-18, lb-20, nb-2, wd-4) 44, Total (for seven wkts. in 184.4 overs) 484.
Fall of wickets: 1-30, 2-270, 3-286, 4-316, 5-394, 6-477, 7-484.
Mumbai bowling: Agarkar 32-11-72-1, Salvi 39-16-72-0, Shaikh 21-5-53-0, Nayar 35.4-10-97-4, Powar 23-7-60-0, Abdullah 32-11-82-2, Rohit 2-0-10-0.
