Mumbai continued to dominate the proceedings on Day 2 of the Irani Cup match against Rest of India as they piled on 603 runs in the first innings. The middle-order led by Suryakumar Yadav (156) helped the team to an advantageous position before being bowled out in the final session of the day. With Abhishek Nayar then giving the Ranji Trophy 2015-16 champions an early breakthrough, the Naman Ojha-led team were 36 for one with Faiz Fazal (18*) and night-watchman Jayant Yadav (1) at the crease at the end of day’s play.
Earlier, Mumbai added 217 runs to their overnight total of 386 as they built on the platform laid by the top order. Resuming his innings on 88, Suryakumar anchored Mumbai past the 500-run mark with his overnight partner Aditya Tare. The pair kept the ROI attack at bay as they continued to add valuable runs to the total at an unhurried pace.
With a well timed single through mid-on, Suryakumar brought up his tenth first-class century, his fourth of the ongoing season. “We have reached the Irani Cup after a long while. I will rate this as the top knock of the season because I have played a long innings and taken my team to a comfortable position as well,” he said later.
Tare, who followed Suryakumar’s ton with a fifty, reached the half-century with a cover drive as he struck the medium-pacer for three boundaries in the over, while his partner struck one through the mid-on region.
Both batsmen looked in good nick as they worked to build on the total. However, with the partnership on 162, Krishna Das forced an outside edge from Tare and Naman took a diving catch to send back his opposite number for 65.
Suryakumar then took the team to lunch at 473 for four with Siddhesh Lad. The pair continued to chip away at the ROI attack, who were a bowler short with Ankit Rajpoot not taking the field on the second day. The pacer had left the field with a strain in the second session on the first day but had returned to bowl in the final session. The fifth wicket partnership took shape as the batsmen collected a boundary at regular intervals even as they picked ones and twos until Suryakumar lobbed back a return catch to Jayant to depart for 156. Speaking about the knock at the end of the day, the batsman said that it was more of a responsibility then pressure.
After Suryakumar’s departure, although Mumbai lost the next five wickets for the addition of 91 runs, the team were already in a commanding position. Jayant followed up with the wickets of Nayar and Dhawal Kulkarni while Fazal took a good low catch to send back the former as the ball took the edge off the latter’s bat on its way to the fielder.
Lad, who had received a life while on 38 as Shahbaz Nadeem couldn’t hold on to the catch at point, reached his half-century a while later with a boundary off Jaydev Unadkat past backward point after tea. He continued to inch forward with Iqbal Abdullah until the pacer took an edge through to the wicketkeeper to send Lad back for 66. In the left-arm pacer’s next over, the lower-order batsman edged him to Naman behind the wicket leaving Mumbai on 585 for nine.
Shardul Thakur and Balwinder Singh Sandhu then added 18 runs to take the team to 603 before Jayant accounted for the former to end the innings and finish with a four-wicket haul.
ROI’s woes continued as KS Bharat departed hitting Nayar straight to point with the team on 29. ROI were trailing by 567 runs with nine wickets in hand when play ended for the day.
Brief scores: Day 2 – Mumbai 1st inn 603/10 in158.2 overs (SK Yadav 156, S Lad 66, A Tare 65, J Yadav 4/132, J Unadkat 2/128); ROI XI 1st inn 36/1 in 16 overs (F Fazal 18*, A Nayar 1/4)
Day 1 - Mumbai 1st inn 386/3 in 83 overs (J Bista 104, A Herwadkar 90, SK Yadav 88*, S Binny 1/35)
