Mhambrey, Bahutule lead Elf attack

MUMBAI, MARCH 20: ELF Lubricants have their work cut out for tomorrow as they chase the target of 223 set by Sun Grace Mafatlal in the Ti...

MUMBAI, MARCH 20: ELF Lubricants have their work cut out for tomorrow as they chase the target of 223 set by Sun Grace Mafatlal in the Times Shield Division I cricket final being played at the Wankhede Stadium. The duo of seamer Paras Mhambrey 3-40 and leg-spinner Sairaj Bahutule 3-33 spearheaded the Elf bowling attack to bundle out Sun Grace for 194 in their second innings on the third day today.

Starting the day at 4-0, the Sun Grace batsmen struggled to keep the scoreboard ticking even as their wickets kept falling at regular intervals. Mhambrey set the ball rolling for Elf as he had opener Nilesh Patwardhan castled in the fourth over of the day with the total on 14. Left-handed Amit Pagnis, who replaced Patwardhan did not last long and left as soon as he came, trapped leg before the wicket by Mhambrey.

Sun-Grace skipper Rohan Gavaskar, who could not do much with the bat in the first innings, seemed to have found his bearings today. Alongwith Shantanu Sugwekar, Gavaskar added 54 runs for the fourthwicket before he finally fell on 33, nudging a Bahutule quickie to the wicket-keeper Amol Rane.Gavaskar8217;s departure almost brought the scoring to a halt. The Sushant Manjrekar and Iqbal Khan partnership which lasted over 10 overs managed to add only three runs for the fifth wicket before the former was trapped leg before by Bahutule after a marathon innings which lasted over three hours and yielded 26 runs.

But with the arrival of Atul Bedade and Robin Morris at the crease runs started flowing again. The post-lunch session especially saw Bedade in cracking form and was particularly harsh on the spinners Bahutule and Nilesh Kulkarni. Seeing the initiative being lost Elf skipper Jatin Paranjpe bought on Mhambrey but even that didn8217;t seem to work as Morris welcomed him with a boundary over mid-on.

The final session finally bore fruit to Mhambrey8217;s persistent efforts as he had Morris play a pull shot only to top edge it to mid-on where Atul Ranade did a clean job.

Even as Sun Grace were ruing the loss,their eight wicket fell with the total staying put at 174. Maroof Khan did the damage this time, picking up the prize-wicket of Bedade, caught at short-leg by Atul Ranade.Though a total of 224 on the last day is not exactly easy, Paranjpe was confident about achieving it. 8220;We did very well with the ball today and I see no reason why we should not do well with the bat too.8221;

Scoreboard

Sun Grace Mafatlal 1st innings: 274

Elf Lubricants 1st innings: 254

Sun Grace Mafatlal 2nd innings, overnight 4-0: Nilesh Patwardhan b Mhambrey 5, Rajesh Pawar c Ranade b Ghadially 21, Amit Pagnis lbw Mhambrey 4, Shantanu Sugwekar lbw Bahutule 26, Rohan Gavaskar c Rane b Bahutule 33, Iqbal Khan lbw Kulkarni 2, Atul Bedade c Paranjpe b Mazhar 46, Robin Morris c Ranade b Mhambrey 24, Venkatpathy Raju camp;b Bahutule 1, Zahir Khan not out 15, Mandar Gokarna c Mehta b Mhambrey 0; Extras lb9, w7, nb1: 17. Total all out in 85.4 overs, including nine penalty runs: 203

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Fall of wickets: 1-14, 2-20, 3-41, 4-95,5-98, 6-98, 7-174, 8-174, 9-183.

Bowling: Mhambrey 18.4-6-40-3, Kulkarni 20-9-44-2, Hazare 7-0-22-0, Ghadially 13-2-40-2, Maroof 5-2-6-0, Bahutule 22-13-33-3.

Elf Lubricants 2 innings: Maroof Khan batting 1, Paras Mhambrey batting 0. Total in 3 overs: 1.

Bowling: Zahir 2-1-1-0, Raju 1-1-0-0.