Late surge by Mumbai spinners

Rajkot, Dec 2: Since morning, it seemed the match was crawling on a one-way street with a dead end as destination. But as the sun was fad...

Rajkot, Dec 2: Since morning, it seemed the match was crawling on a one-way street with a dead end as destination. But as the sun was fading, Mumbai spinners took a turn putting to put the tie on crossroads. Still miles behind the Mumbai total, Saurashtra were in a position of losing their way on the penultimate day of the West Zone Ranji Trophy match here today.

The hosts were cruising at 156 for two and the chances of a result looked as remote as life on the dull track. But Mumbai slow bowlers Sairaj Bahutule and Nilesh Kulkarni put the breaks dismissing three Saurashtra stalwarts in the last hour. With the hosts needing 376 runs and their top half already dismantled, the visitors are odds to take the first innings lead and an overtly optimistic Mumbai supporter would even be ready to bet for an outright win for his team.

Earlier, Mumbai got the confidence overnight and did not bat today, declaring their first innings at 567. But they suffered a setback as their main strike bowler Paras Mhambrayreported sick. Left-arm-spinner Nilesh Kulkarni shared the new ball with Santosh Saxena.

Meanwhile another Mumbai pace bowler Abey Kuruvilla, who played the one-day game flew tonight to join the India A team playing the Test series against West Indies A. He received the call today morning.

Scoreboard

Mumbai (1st innings): 567-5 decl.

Saurashtra (1st innings): Sudhir Tanna run out (Joglekar) 37, Jayesh Motivaras lbw Saxena 7, Sitanshu Kotak c&b Kulkarni 95 (15×4, 226b, 281m); Bimal Jadeja lbw Bahutule 18, Prakash Bhatt b Bahutule 6, Jagdish Dhamecha batting 6, Hitesh Parsana batting 1. Extras: (1b, 4lb, 16nb): 21. Total: (for five wickets in 92 overs): 191.

Fall Of Wickets: 1-29, 2-88, 3-156, 4-182, 5-188.

Bowling: Saxena 18-3-64-1 (16nb); Kulkarni 30-15-42-1, Sutar 17-5-38-0, Bahutule 26-10-37-2, Joglekar 1-0-5-0.