A seven-wicket haul from Rahil Shah (seven for 34) put Tamil Nadu on top on day one of its Group ‘A’ match against Mumbai here on Wednesday. The home side, after dismissing Mumbai for 141, was just five runs adrift for the loss of four wickets at close of play.
If Tamil Nadu had not lost Dinesh Karthik and night-watchman Aushik Srinivas at the fag end of the day, the grip on the match would have been tighter.
On a red-soil pitch, Mumbai elected to bat. That it would help the spinners was a given. But the slowness of it seemed to surprise them. First Wasim Jaffer and then Aditya Tare, both were dismissed misjudging the length.
“It’s more mental,” said Shah. “A red wicket puts different thoughts in your mind. And then when one or two balls jump, you immediately start thinking.”
Fine fiftyBut Shreyas Iyer showed the way with a fine fifty (56b, 4x5, 2x6). He was particularly severe on offie Suresh Kumar and his play on the leg-side, which included two sixes over long on, was eye-catching.
“Rahil bowled really well,” said Shreyas. “May be I could have spent some more time at the wicket. But defending was also tough. We lost some wickets trying to do that. So we had to step out and score.”
Yet, with better application the visitors could have got better returns. Both Sarfaraz Khan and Shardul Thakur failed while trying to hit out. Suryakumar Yadav, who seems to have a penchant for sweeping his way out of trouble, was caught brilliantly by R. Satish at leg-slip while trying to essay one.
In reply, Tamil Nadu lost skipper Abhinav Mukund early when a tentative poke was snapped up by Tare off Thakur. Then Vijay Shankar and M. Vijay steadied the innings and later a 76-run partnership between Karthik and Vijay Shankar took Tamil Nadu close to Mumbai’s total.
The scores:
Mumbai — 1st innings: Aditya Tare c & b Suresh Kumar 17, Akhil Herwadkar c Indrajith b Rahil Shah 2, Wasim Jaffer c Aparajith b Rahil Shah 0, Shreyas Iyer c Vijay Shankar b Rahil Shah 50, Suryakumar Yadav c Satish b Malolan 5, Siddesh Lad c Indrajith b Rahil Shah 17, Sarfaraz Khan c Malolan b Rahil Shah 21, Shardul Thakur st Dinesh Karthik b Rahil Shah 6, Iqbal Abdullah c & b Rahil Shah 11, Akshay Girap (not out) 6, Vishal Dabholkar c Indrajith b Suresh Kumar 0; Extras (b-6): 6; Total (in 48.5 overs): 141.
Fall of wickets: 1-3, 2-9, 3-36, 4-43, 5-86, 6-115, 7-122, 8-128, 9-135.
Tamil Nadu bowling: Rahil Shah 20-7-34-7, Vijay Shankar 5-3-10-0, S. Suresh Kumar 13.5-0-54-2, Malolan Rangarajan 10-3-37-1.
Tamil Nadu — 1st innings: M. Vijay c Akhil Herwadkar b Akshay Girap 27, Abhinav Mukund c Tare b Shardul 7, Vijay Shankar (batting) 47, Dinesh Karthik c Shreyas Iyer b Akhil Herwadkar 43, Aushik Srinivas b Akhil Herwadkar 0, B. Aparajith (batting) 0; Extras (nb-5, w-1, lb-6): 12; Total (for four wickets in 43 overs): 136.
Fall of wickets: 1-22, 2-54, 3-130, 4-130.
Mumbai bowling: Shardul 11-5-22-1, Iqbal Abdullah 12-1-35-0, Vishal Dabholkar 9-0-39-0, Akshay Girap 9-1-28-1, Akhil Herwadkar 2-1-6-2.
