Mumbai, Dec 11: Claiming three points on the basis of their first innings lead against host’s Mumbai, Punjab continued their good run in the 2012-13 Ranji Trophy season. After posting a massive 580-run total in the first innings, the visitors bowled Mumbai out for 485 on the final day of the match.
Although Rohit Sharma had kept Mumbai in the hunt with a brilliant knock on the penultimate day, Manpreet Singh Grewal (Gony) claimed four wickets in the first session of the fourth day to put Punjab in the driver’s seat at the Wankhede Stadium. The pacer got the ball rolling with the wicket of Hiken Shah in the third over of the day. And after a brilliant piece of fielding from Siddharth Kaul saw the back of Rohit Sharma, Gony claimed three more victims to ensure a first innings lead for the visitors.
However, Ankeet Chavan added drama to the match in the latter half of the day. Claiming nine wickets he ran through the Punjab line-up to bundle out the opposition for 59. Chasing 155 runs, Rohit Sharma got Mumbai off to a blistering start but departed for 28. When the match ended Mumbai were 61 for two with Abhishek Nayar (26) and Chavan at the crease.
Earlier, after Shah nicked Gony to the wicketkeeper to depart without adding to his overnight score, Abhishek Nayar joined Rohit Sharma in the middle and the duo added 58 runs for the fifth wicket until the latter was run out. Rohit Sharma who had reached his first double-ton of the season after sweeping Harbhajan Singh to pick two runs was run out. This dismissal triggered a mini-collapse as Gony claimed the next three batsmen and completed a five-wicket haul in the innings.
With Mumbai on 428, Dhawal Kulkarni came to the crease but was sent back for a duck by Gony one run later. He then claimed Chavan and Ajit Agarkar in his next with the hosts on 429. Ramesh Powar and Abhishek Nayar then took Mumbai past 431 to avoid the follow-on. But a little later, Powar perished after taking the aerial route; a brilliant catch by Sandeep Sharma sent back the lower-order bat. Balwinder Singh Sandhu (Jr) then supported Nayar to extend the Mumbai innings. The duo put up a valiant fight against Punjab and added 53 runs for the last wicket, before Harbhajan Singh claimed Nayar for 51 in the second session.
Punjab then commenced their second innings with a 95-run lead, but Chavan removed Jiwanjot Singh and Mandeep Singh to leave Punjab on 16 for the loss of two wickets at tea. In the first over of the third session he then dismissed Ravi Inder Singh and then trapped Uday Kaul leg-before, while Powar followed up with the wicket of Amitoze Singh in the next over. Karan Goel and Siddharth Kaul then added 28 runs for the seventh wicket, before the left-arm spinner struck again. Goel edged the ball to Shah in the slips to depart for 23, and on the next ball Bipul Sharma was caught at forward short-leg by Kaustubh Pawar. At 53 for eight, Sandeep Sharma then fended off the delivery denying Chavan a hattrick. But in the spinner’s next over, Sandeep nicked him to the wicketkeeper to depart for naught. Chavan then clipped Gony’s bails to bundle Punjab out for 59.
Needing 155 from 10 overs, Nayar and Rohit Sharma came out to chase the target for Mumbai. But this target proved to be too steep as the hosts could only manage 61/2 in 6 overs by the time the day’s play ended.
Brief scores:
At the end of Day 4: Mumbai 1st innings 485 all out in 160.5 overs (RG Sharma 203, H Shah 54, A Nayar 51, M Gony 5/87); Punjab 2nd innings 59 all out in 11.5 overs (K Goel 23, S Kaul 9*, A Chavan 9/23); Mumbai 2nd innings 61/2 in 6 overs (R Sharma 28, A Nayar 26*)
At the end of Day 3: Mumbai 1st innings 364/4 in 109 overs (RG Sharma 163*, K Pawar 78, Hiken Shah 54*)
At the end of Day 2: Punjab 1st innings 580 all out in 158.1 overs (Mandeep Singh 211, A Singh 91, Ankeet Chavan 3/142); Mumbai 1st innings 69/1 in 19 overs (K Pawar 26*, A Rahane 18*)
At the end of Day 1: Punjab 1st innings 288/4 in 89.4 overs (Mandeep Singh 102*, Ravi Inder Singh 76, A Agarkar 2/54, D Kulkarni 2/61)
