Shreyas Iyer (117) ensured Mumbai a first innings lead in the Ranji Trophy 2015-16 final after Dhawal Kulkarni and Shardul Thakur wrapped up Saurashtra’s innings for 235 earlier in the morning. However, the fall of five wickets in the last session left the match hanging in the balance. Courtesy the 152-run stand between the top-order bat and Suryakumar Yadav, Mumbai overhauled Saurashtra’s first innings score, but after Chirag Jani claimed Mumbai’s No 3 just before Tea, Hardik Rathod brought Saurashtra back into the game with three wickets late in the day.
At 262 for eight, Mumbai were leading by 27 runs at the end of day’s play. Coming in to bat on the third delivery of the day after Akhil Herwadkar edged Jaydev Unadkat to the slips, Iyer slammed the pacer to the fence to get off the mark. After 23 runs later, Bhavin Thakker was done in by the left-arm pacer. With both the openers back in the pavilion, Yadav joined the top-order bat in negotiating the Saurashtra pace attack. The pair began to glean runs off the bowlers as they steadily built the partnership. While Iyer looked to attack, the middle-order batsman played the perfect foil once again in the season to stabilise Mumbai’s innings. He left deliveries as he carefully built the innings with singles and twos.
Mumbai had their moments at edges flew and Iyer was dropped by Arpit Vasavda in the slips after edging Deepak Punia to the slips while on 37. However, undeterred, the pair carried on to take the team to Lunch with eight wickets in hand.
They continued to milk the bowlers as they dominated the second session. While he was content to play the supporting role, Yadav too dispatched the ball to the fence with panache. With the stylish middle-order bat joining Iyer in clobbering the bowlers, Saurashtra were on the back foot. The drives, the cuts, the punches down the ground from both ends tipped the balance in Mumbai’s favour.
En route his fourth century of the season, Iyer surpassed Wasim Jaffer’s record of most runs (1260) in a season for Mumbai. He also became only the second batsman in the history of the tournament to score 1300 runs in a season besides VVS Laxman (1415).
However, just a little before Tea, Iyer departed playing a tired shot to mid-off off Jani. Saurashtra then dominated the last session of the day as they picked five wickets. In the third over after tea, Vasavada’s catch diving towards first slip sent back Aditya Tare. After being struck firmly to the ropes through the point region twice in the over, Jani forced a nick from the Mumbai captain through to the slips. And couple of overs later, Yadav edged Punia to the slips and returned for 48.
After levelling scores with Saurashtra, Abhishek Nayar was the next to return to the dressing room, trapped lbw by Hardik Rathod. After 15 runs, the pacer castled Kulkarni while Thakur edged him to the slips off the next ball. Although second slip failed to hold on to the catch, Pujara who was standing at first slip showed good reflexes.
At 250 for eight, Iqbal Abdullah joined Siddhesh Lad (22*) in the middle and the pair took the team to Stumps without further hiccups.
Earlier in the day, Unadkat fired 31 off 26 as he helped add 43 runs to the overnight total with Prerak Mankad. Kulkarni ended the stand with the wicket of the debutant to complete his five-for, while Thakur accounted for the lower-order batsman to end the Saurashtra innings.
Brief scores: Day 2: Saurashtra 1st inn 235/10 in 93.2 overs (P Mankad 66, J Unadkat 31, D Kulkarni 5/42, S Thakur 3/89); Mumbai 1st inn 262/8 in 66 overs (S Iyer 117, S Yadav 48, S Lad 22*, H Rathod 3/44, C Jani 2/46, J Unadkat 2/55) Mumbai Lead by 27 runs
