Sahil Kukreja and Abhishek Nayar have added 189 minutes more to a partnership that started eight years back in school. This is another story of two classmates from Shardashram High School, the alma mater of Sachin Tendulkar and Vinod Kambli, among others.Though not in the same league as the famous duo, Kukreja and Nayar belong to that genre of schoolmates who became friends because of cricket. On Sunday morning, they championed Mumbai’s cause with a flashy 174-run fifth wicket stand.Kukreja missed a double century by one run and Nayar missed his century by seven. Maybe Shardashramites are having that nervous 90s bout these days. But they helped Mumbai gain a huge advantage against Delhi in this Ranji Trophy Super League encounter. They have now set Delhi a target of 386 runs.Mumbai posted a mammoth 471/9 before declaring after resuming the day at 154 And the end score was a pleasant surprise after skipper Amol Muzumdar and middle-order batsman Rohit Sharma fell for seven and a duck respectively. Kukreja, resuming at an overnight score of 89, went on to add 110 more runs. Nair, at the other end, compiled 93 inclusive of 11 fours and three sixes.Delhi had ensured enough trouble for Mumbai in the first session with the new ball with left-arm seamer Pradeep Sangwan sending back Muzumdar and Sharma.A thick inside edge off Sangwan sent Nayar back, the third time he lost out in the nineties. Kukreja, who’s got two centuries in his Ranji CV, was later caught brilliantly in the slips by Aakash Chopra, giving Sangwan his first five-wicket haul.Brief scores: Mumbai: 166 and 471/9 decl. (S Kukreja 199, A Nair 93; Sangwan 5/102). Delhi: 251 and 59 for no loss (A Chopra batting 33).Ranji round-upChennai: Tamil Nadu 421 and 185/6 v Karnataka 221 Dharamsala: Maharashtra 310 and 22/0 v Himachal Pradesh 83 and 247. Maharashtra win by 10 wicketsCuttack: Andhra 179 and 287/9 dec v Orissa 140 and 32/0Jaipur: Saurashtra 307 and 253/3 v Rajasthan 172 Hyderabad: Hyderabad 261 and 40/1 v Baroda 476/9 dec PLATE GROUPSilchar: Assam 198 and 152 v Kerala 85 and 200/6Margao: Madhya Pradesh 475 and 186/4 v Goa 293 Nagpur: Vidarbha 315 & 150/6 v Tripura 201 Jammu: Jharkhand 105 & 403 v Jammu & Kashmir 133 & 85/4 Rohtak: Railways 385 for 9 decl beat Haryana 193 and 106 by an innings and 86 runs New Delhi: Gujarat 437 beat Services 97 & 147 by an innings and 193 runs
