Kambli cuts loose

The Mumbai batsmen have ensured that the four-day match is virtually over as a contest. The visiting batsmen extended their pathetic performance into their second essay as the scoreboard reading 112 for four at stumps on the second day suggests. Vishal Sharma 48: 108b, 155m, 8215;4 and Saket Bhatia 10 wereholding fort when play ended an hour behind schedule.

Kambli, 26, had failed to touch the 50-run mark in the first three Ranji matches this season. But he has more than made up now, following his 232 not out against Saurashtra at the same venue last month with another double hundred today. It has given him an aggregate of 470 runs in the last three innings in which he has been dismissed just once.

Interestingly, three of his four double centuries that he has scored in the National Championship have been at the Wankhede.

A flurry of runs from the blades of Tendulkar and Kambli at the outset today saw the duo carry from where they had left off yesterday. A double treat was in offing with the Shardashram High School products nearing their individual hundreds. However, Tendulkar disappointed the 500-odd that turned up to witness the duo8217;s pyrotechnics. The former Indian skipper slashed a widish Zakir Hussain delivery to the lone slip fielder Satyendra Yadav and was dismissed on 95 99b, 142m, 17215;4. But bythen Tendulkar had been part of a firm foundation worth 188 runs off just 27.3 overs for the fourth wicket.

Kambli, however, continued undeterred. A well-executed, cover-driven boundary saw him race past the 100-mark 89b, 133m, 14215;4, 3215;6. With the Railways8217; attack rarely troubling Kambli, there was little by way of respite. That 194 runs were scored in the first session is a testimony of the Mumbai batsmen8217;s brutal dominance. It was a period when skipper Sanjay Bangar was clubbed for 23 runs in an over with Kambli smacking four boundaries, three in succession.

Kambli was also severe on Kulamani Parida 8212; all the six sixes he hit coming of the off-spinner.

Kambli dominated the fifth wicket-association of 174, contributing 109 runs. Just once did Kambli appear fallible 8212; when he was on 203. A sweep off Parida was spilled by Yadav at the square-leg fence.

Though Muzumdar8217;s knock was overshadowed by Kambli8217;s belligerence, he too excelled with some well-timed boundaries until Tendulkar applied closureto the innings 47 minutes into the second session.

Despite lacking discipline, the Mumbai bowlers were rewarded with four scalps in the 41 overs of play this afternoon. Wicket-keeper Sulakshan Kulkarni had reason to rejoice when he pouched his opposite number Zakaria Zuffri 15 8212; his 100th catch in first-class cricket spanning 55 matches.

SCOREBOARD

Railways 1st innings: 124

Mumbai 1st innings; overnight 242-3: Amit Pagnis c Yadav b Zaman 30, Sulkashan Kulkarni c amp; b Zaman 45, Sanjay Manjrekar c sub Kapoor b Bangar 30, Sachin Tendulkar c Yadav b Hussain 95, Vinod Kambli not out 207, Amol Muzumdar not out 63, Extras b8, lb2, w4, nb13: 27. Total for four wickets decl in 92 overs, 402 mins: 497

Fall of wickets: 1-73, 2-107, 3-135, 4-323

Bowling: Hussain 20-1-114-1 nb5, Zaman 11-1-81-2 nb3, w1, Bangar 12-0-87-1 5nb, 3w, Parida 25-2-126-0, Suresh Kumar 21-3-71-0, Bhatia 1-0-5-0, Rawat 2-1-3-0

Railways 2nd innings: SanjayBangar lbw Ranade 11, Satyendra Yadav b Mhambrey 10, Vishal Sharma batting 48, Zakaria Zuffri c Sulakshan Kulkarni b Nilesh Kulkarni 15, Saket Bhatia batting 10; Extras b8, w1, nb2: 13. Total for four wickets in 41 overs; 183 mins: 112

Fall of wickets: 1-16, 2-36, 3-45, 4-82

Bowling: Kuruvilla 12-2-35-1 nb4, Mhambrey 10-2-26-1, Ranade 5-1-12-1 w1, Shaikh 6-3-14-0, Nilesh Kulkarni 6-3-8-1, Kambli 2-0-9-0