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Journalism of Courage
On a dramatic second day when a total of 14 wickets fell, seasoned off-spinner Ramesh Powar and debutant paceman Dhaval Kulkarni ensured hosts Mumbai reached the halfway stage of the four-day Ranji Trophy against Rajasthan with a very healthy lead of 133 runs with eight second innings wickets intact.
Mumbai, who resumed the day on an overnight score of 293 for eight, added another 14 runs before folding up at 307 in 90.2 overs. Both Powar and Kulkarni then used the good turn and slight bounce of the wicket to restrict Rajasthan to 204 in their first innings. Batting in their second innings, Mumbai lost two quick wickets in the remaining 11 overs of play but are now sitting pretty with a decent lead.
“This is a situation from where we can dictate terms,” said Powar. “If we can get a lead of 350 or so, we will be in a very good position to win,” added Powar who took 5 for 44.
Bad start
After Mumbai’s first innings finished early in the day, the Rajasthan batsmen failed to read the movement of Kulkarni who troubled both the openers. He soon removed Subhanshu Vijay, who was caught by Sahil Kukreja for just four and then did not allow new batsman Nikhil Doru to settle, having him caught, once again by Kukreja, for no score. This left Rajasthan at 10 for the loss of two wickets.
Skipper Venugopala Rao joined opener Vinit Saxena and the duo put their heads down to do the repair job. Both took the score beyond 50 but Powar halted their progress. He had Rao caught by Ajit Agarkar for 26, before Kulkarni removed Gagan Khoda.
Last but not the least
Both Kulkarni and Powar got good support from the pitch and an edgy approach by the visiting batsmen didn’t help. Wickets kept falling at regular intervals even as Saxena held on at the other end. The ninth wicket fell for 152, but the last-wicket pair of Gajendra Singh and Saxena added 52 runs in 14.1 overs to take the visitors beyond 200. Saxena was the last batsman out for a well-made 76.
Mumbai lost Ajinkya Rahane and Wasim Jaffer towards the end of the day but are well placed despite the hiccups.
Brief scores: Mumbai (1st Innings) 307 and (2nd Innings) 30-2 vs Rajasthan (1st Innings) 307 (Vinit Saxena 76; Ramesh Powar 5-44, Dhaval Kulkarni 5-40)
