Mumbai, Nov 3 Mumbai struck twice late in the final session to peg Railways back as the hosts reached 116/2 at the close of play, trailing by 280 runs in the first innings on day two of their Elite Group D Ranji Trophy match here on Tuesday.
Tanush Kotian (1/12) and Shams Mulani (1/29) provided key breakthroughs amid a resilient display from the Railways batters on a pitch that has remained slow and unpredictable at times in terms of bounce here.
Railways are playing their home matches of the Ranji Trophy this season here at the Brabourne Stadium.
The variable bounce even had Railways opener Vivek Singh (38 not out off 50 balls, 8 fours) retiring hurt when he was struck on the back while trying to duck a short ball from Mohit Avasthi.
With the new ball not providing a favourable outcome, Mumbai were forced to work through different bowling ploys but Railways remained unscathed for 25 overs into their innings.
The breakthrough finally came for Mumbai in the 26th when Kotian had Sahab Singh (33) caught behind, and soon Mulani lured Eshaan Goyal to dance down the track, but the batter played it meekly to Siddhesh Lad at extra cover for catching practice.
At stumps, skipper Bhargav Merai (7 not out) was at the crease with Mohammed Saif (29 not out).
“I thought it is on the slower side, but one odd ball is not rising that much and we saw that player got injured as well. I think we can use that as well tomorrow,” Mulani told reporters after the play.
Earlier in the day, Mulani led Mumbai’s charge towards a strong first-innings total after the stutter on Day One, wherein the “visitors” had lost three wickets each in the second and the third sessions to be left in a spot of bother at 247 for six.
Mumbai added 149 more runs for the final four wickets, with the majority of those coming off Mulani’s bat. The left-handed No. 8 batter made the most of good batting conditions to strike seven fours and make 71 off 153 balls.
Mulani also put on 82 runs for the seventh wicket with wicketkeeper-batter Akash Anand, who made 52 off 71 balls with seven boundaries.
For Railways, Himanshu Sangwan returned 4/88 to complete his 100 wickets in First-Class cricket.
Pradosh Paul’s 208 (335 balls; 14 fours) and an unbeaten 115 from Ajith Ram (219 balls; 10 fours) propelled Tamil Nadu to 517 for 7 declared in their first innings against Chandigarh on the second day.
In reply, Chandigarh were jolted twice with last match’s double-centurion Nehal Pajni falling for a mere eight and other opener Arjun Azad’s wicket being snaffled by R Sai Kishore.
Chandigarh were behind by 522 runs in the first innings, reaching 49/3 at the close of play.
After being shot out for mere 78 in the first essay, Rajasthan gave a fine example in the second innings reaching 297 for four, with an overall lead of 222 runs against Himachal Pradesh.
In Dehradun, Uttarakhand reached 296 for seven to lead by 143 runs against Haryana.
Brief scores:
In Mumbai: Mumbai 396 in 123.3 overs (Angkrish Raghuvanshi 78, Sarfaraz Khan 55, Akash Anand 52, Shams Mulani 71; Himanshu Sangwan 4/88) lead Railways 116/2 in 35 overs (Mohammed Saif 29 not out; Tanush Kotian 1/12) by 280 runs.
In Chandigarh: Tamil Nadu 571/7 declared in 154 overs (N Jagadeesan 52, Pradosh Paul 208 not out, Baba Indrajith 51, Ajith Ram 115 not out; Bhagmender Lather 2/102) lead Chandigarh 49/3 in 20 overs (Sai Kishore 2/14) by 522 runs.
In Dharamsala: Rajasthan 78 & 297/4 in 87 overs (Rohan Rajbhar 140, Mahipal Lomror 97; Arpit Guleria 2/63) lead Himachal Pradesh 153 by 222 runs.
In Dehradun: Haryana 153 trail Uttarakhand 296/7 in 122 overs (Aarav Mahajan 51, Dega Nischal 148 not out, Kunal Chandela 56; Kanishk Chouhan 4/55) by 143 runs.
(PTI News)
