Mumbai faces the onerous task of having to bat out two days to avoid defeat against Tamil Nadu in its Group ‘A’ Ranji Trophy encounter. B. Indrajith’s maiden century (101, 162b, 11x4, 1x6) and a fine half-century by Vijay Shankar (95, 202b, 9x4, 1x6) helped the home side gain a mammoth lead of 276 and by the end of the day’s play it had reduced Mumbai to 12 for one in the second innings.
“I am really happy with the hundred,” said Indrajith. “It took me long. This is my tenth match. I am relieved to have got it.”
Two partnerships made the day for Tamil Nadu. The first was between Vijay Shankar and R. Sathish that fetched 58 runs at a brisk rate of almost four an over. Then Indrajith and Malolan Rangarajan combined for a 130-run stand for the ninth wicket to pull further away.
Vijay Shankar capitalised on the luck that came his way on day one when he was bowled off a no-ball when on four. However, five short of a century, he fell, caught at slip off an attempted sweep. The ball was deemed to have taken his glove though the batsman didn’t seem pleased with the decision.
On the day, the odd ball did keep low — like the one which got Suresh Kumar out leg before — and some took off. There was even a period between the two partnerships when Tamil Nadu laboured at less than two an over and didn’t breach the boundary for almost 13 overs. But the Mumbai bowlers’ inability to stick to a tight and consistent line cost them.
The scores:Mumbai — 1st innings: 141.
Tamil Nadu — 1st innings: M. Vijay c Akhil Herwadkar b Akshay Girap 27, Abhinav Mukund c Tare b Shardul 7, Vijay Shankar c Suryakumar Yadav b Iqbal Abdullah 95, Dinesh Karthik c Shreyas Iyer b Akhil Herwadkar 43, Aushik Srinivas b Akhil Herwadkar 0, B. Aparajith b Akshay Girap 24, R. Sathish b Shardul 39, B. Indrajith c Vishal Dabholkar b Iqbal Abdullah 101, Suresh Kumar lbw b Akshay Girap 10, Malolan Rangarajan c Shardul b Akshay Girap 46, Rahil Shah (not out) 1; Extras (b-9, lb-9, w-1, nb-5): 24; Total (in 122 overs): 417.
Fall of wickets: 1-22, 2-54, 3-130, 4-130, 5-188, 6-246, 7-252, 8-273, 9-403.
Mumbai bowling: Shardul 25-10-53-2, Iqbal Abdullah 40-7-126-2, Vishal Dabholkar 14-0-58-0, Akshay Girap 29-5-87-4, Akhil Herwadkar 8-1-46-2, Suryakumar Yadav 4-0-19-0, Siddesh Lad 1-0-9-0, Shreyas Iyer 1-0-1-0.
Mumbai — 2nd innings: Aditya Tare (batting) 6, Akhil Herwadkar c Indrajith b Rahil Shah 4, Wasim Jaffer (batting) 2; Total (for one wkt. in 12.4 overs): 12.
Fall of wicket: 1-5.
Tamil Nadu bowling: Rahil Shah 6-3-6-1, Vijay Shankar 1-0-4-0, S. Suresh Kumar 4-4-0-0, M. Vijay 1-0-2-0, Malolan 0.4-0-0-0.
