Kuruvilla, Mhambrey lead Mumbai assault on Saurashtra

Cushioned by a 114-run lead, Mumbai crawled to 53-1 in 28 overs in their second essay when play ended 45 minutes behind schedule.

Saurashtra were in ruins at 44 for five with visions of the Sunday one-day batting debacle looking a reality. However, debutant Feroze Bhambania (59: 136b, 183m, 10×4) pulled the team out of the quicksand with an innings of admirable maturity. The 20-year-old enjoyed a huge slice of luck when he was dropped by Jaffer (nine in a total of 44-4) off medium-pacer Santosh Saxena. Had Jaffer clung on to the chance, Saurashtra would have slumped to 44-6 as Kuruvilla claimed Bimal Jadeja inthe next over. Unperturbed, Bhambania grew in confidence, striking Mhambrey for three boundaries in succession.

Wicket-keeper Manoj Parmar (32: 73b, 105m, 2×4, 2×6) played the support cast well and alongwith Bhambania, raised 80 runs for the sixth wicket.

However, once Kuruvilla ended the resistance by trapping Parmar leg before, fortunes swung back in Mumbai’s favour. The 31-year-old veteran, returning for a third spell, collected three more scalps in his next four overs to leave Saurashtra at 140 for nine — seven short of making Mumbai bat again.

But the last wicket pair of Rajesh Garsondia (25) and Kamal Chavda (15) frustrated the opposition by grafting 43 vital runs.

Openers Wasim Jaffer (11) and Amit Pagnis (batting 26) extended the despair for Mumbai by pottering around for 17 overs realising 28. Left-arm medium-pacer Rajesh Garsondia ended Jaffer’s miseries, trapping the batsman leg before wicket.

It was the seventh dismissal of a similar nature on a track which continued to assist thebowlers. The exuberant Amol Rane (15) was giving Pagnis company at the draw of stumps.

After his batting heroics on Monday, Mhambrey provided a sensational start this morning claiming both Saurashtra openers leg before wicket — there were five such dismissals in the innings — in the first over of the innings. He followed it up by dismissing Prakash Bhatt (8) in his third over before Saxena and Kuruvilla chimed in with a wicket each to leave Saurashtra in a pathetic state.

It was then left to the Bhambania, Parmar and the last-wicket pair to bring some sanity to the proceedings.

SCOREBOARD

Mumbai (1st innings): 297
Saurashtra (1st innings): Sudhir Tanna lbw Mhambrey 0 (1b, 1m), Vasant Kumar lbw Mhambrey 0 (3b, 5m), Sitanshu Kotak lbw Saxena 8 (21b, 40m), Prakash Bhatt c Rane b Mhambrey 2 (12b, 19m), Bimal Jadeja lbw Kuruvilla 18 (31b, 59m, 3×4), Feroze Bhambania c Rane b Kuruvilla 59 (136b, 183m, 10×4), Manoj Parmar lbw Kuruvilla 32 (73b, 105m, 2×4, 2×6), Dharmendra Chudasama cMuzumdar b Kuruvilla 2 (4b, 6m), Niraj Odedara lbw Kuruvilla 0 (10b, 17m), Rajesh Garsondia c Jaffer b Bahutule 25 (57b, 68m, 5×4), Kamal Chavda not out 15 (44b, 57m, 3×4); Extras: (1b, 1lb, 18nb, 2w) 22
Total: (in 62.2 overs; 287 minutes) 183
Fall of wickets:1-0 (Tanna), 2-2 (Kumar), 3-12 (Bhatt), 4-17 (Kotak), 5-44 (Jadeja), 6-124 (Parmar), 7-128 (Chudasama), 8-138 (Odedara), 9-140 (Bhambania), 10-183 (Garsondia)
Bowling: Mhambrey 12-2-46-3 (4nb, 2w), Saxena 16-3-49-1 (3nb), Kuruvilla 18-2-47-5 (11nb), Kulkarni 9-2-28-0, Bahutule 7.2-3-11-1

Mumbai (2nd innings):Wasim Jaffer lbw b Garsondia 11 (52b, 81, 2×4), Amit Pagnis batting 26 (84b, 122m, 4×4), Amol Rane batting 15 (33b, 37m, 2×4); Extras: (1nb) 1
Total: (for one wicket off 28 overs, 122 minutes) 53
Fall of wicket:1-28 (Jaffer)
Bowling: Garsondia 10-5-17-1, Chavda 9-3-21-0, Odedara 5-2-4-0, Chudasama 4-1-11-0

Maharashtra in trouble
PUNE: Maharashtra supporterskept their fingers crossed, in hope that Mumbai beat Saurashtra, to make the knock-out stage of the Ranji Trophy as a poor batting display pushed the home team into trouble.

On the second day of the four-day West Zone tie against Baroda, Maharashtra, replying to Baroda’s 393, were 134 for seven. Only former skipper Surendra Bhave stood amid ruins with a well-compiled 77.

Scoreboard
Baroda (1st innings, overnight 309-7): Moinuddin Kadri c Khondhalkar b Kulkarni 3, Darshan Mullerkar c Aphale b Kulkarni 6, Rakesh Patel not out 26, Zaheer Khan c Aradhye b Shah 48. Extras: (b4, lb7, w1, nb5) 17.
Total (in 115.1 overs, 512 minutes) 393
Fall of wickets: 1-9, 2-86, 3-88, 4-94, 5-284, 6-308, 7-309, 8-312, 9-319.
Bowling: Iqbal Siddiqui 36-9-111-2, Milind Kulkarni 23-2-86-3, Sachin Aradhye 17-3-74-1, Satyen Lande 25-3-72-3, Sagar Shah 12.1-3-33-1, Shantanu Sugwekar 2-0-6-0.