Bravish scores double ton as Mumbai Univ take control

His innings came at a crucial time,especially when Mumbai were overnight struggling at 49 for 3.

After slamming a sensational century in the semi-finals Shetty slammed unbeaten 211 which saw Mumbai taking a first innings lead of 188 runs.

At stumps,Mumbai reached an impressive 386 for seven,in reply to Sri Ramaswamy Memorial’s 198 all out on Monday.

“I think this knock came bit late,if it had come earlier,then I would have got a chance to be part of the Mumbai under-22 team. Earlier,I never took things seriously but since I was dropped it was a wake up call for me,” said delighted Shetty.

Shetty,unbeaten on 19 overnight,struck seven sixes and 20 boundaries on his way to an unbeaten 211,as he steered Mumbai from despair,to a position of strength.

A calm and composed Shetty,who scored 114 runs in the semi-finals against RSTM,Nagpur was the toast of the day as he also was involved in two significant century partnerships that put Mumbai on course for a hat-trick.

Interestingly,his father Ratnakar Shetty a former captain of the India junior football team,did not want his son Bravish to take up cricket. Being a football player,Shetty too wanted his son to continue his legacy.

However,Bravish was very keen in playing cricket. “My father was so passionate about football that he used to give me fielding practice like a goal-keeper like sliding and diving. My father’s friends sometimes used to advise him against doing it this way,but he continued with same style that is why I can field well,” Bravish said.

Shetty and the other overnight batsman Kunal Mathure (34) put on 119 runs for the fourth wicket,and later he teamed up with Bhavesh Patel (55) to add 123 runs for the seventh wicket.

“When we resumed this morning,anything could have happened.

Had we lost wickets,the advantage would have been with SRM. But Shetty’s double century and the two century partnerships made the difference,” said University of Mumbai skipper Omkar Gurav. “We will now go on to complete the innings on the final day.”

Mumbai coach Vilas Godbole,who admitted he spent a sleepless night with his side 49 for 3,said,“Yes,I didn’t sleep well. How could I? But now that we are in control I would like the boys to score more runs.”

In the 3r to 4th place play-off tie,Delhi University beat Rashtra Sant Tukadoji Maharaj (RSTM) University,Nagpur by 274 runs to finish third at the Elphinstone ground.

Ajmer Singh scored an unbeaten 130 and Anshul Gupta missed his ton by nine runs as Delhi,who won the toss and elected to bat,amassed 403 for 8.

RSTM were shot out for a paltry 129 with Chanderpal Saini snaring four for 32,while T. Chowdhary and Ravi Dixit took two wickets apiece.

Brief Scores
(Final): At Total-Vengsarkar,Oval Maidan: SRM,Tamil Nadu 198 all out vs Univ of Mumbai (overnight 49 for 3) 386 for 7 (Bravish Shetty batting 211,Bhavesh Patel 55,Kunal Mathure 34; R.D. Ashwinkumar 2-75); 3/4th play-off: Delhi Univ 430 for 8 (Ajmer Singh 130 n.o.,Anshul Gupta 91,Luv Sherawat 62,Lokesh Sharma 52; Apurva Kale 5-88) bt RSTM,Nagpur 129 all out (Chanderpal Saini 4-32,T. Chowdhary 2-4,Ravi Dixit 2-12) by 274 runs.