Morris makes it a Merry X’mas for Mumbai

Morris ruled the wintry afternoon picking up four wickets in 10.5 overs, three of which came from his first spell (7-3-11-3). With India all-rounder Ajit Agarkar and Paras Mhambrey providing the back up claiming two scalps each, Baroda were shot out for 202 against Mumbai’s first innings total of 410.

Strangely, Mumbai chose to bat again instead of forcing the follow-on despite 13 overs remaining. Coach Ashok Mankad explained the decision stating, “we decided since it was Baroda who put us in first, let them work hard to get us out twice. Why should we tax out bowlers. The wicket is still very lively and let Baroda try to get Mumbai out again.”

He said Mumbai’s aim is now to achieve a lead of nothing less that 600 plus before the visitors could be asked to bat again. He also stressed that the Mumbai side was impressed by the “impressive spectator atmosphere” at MIG. The home team’s tactics mean that the Bandra crowd would be in for another treat from stars Sachin Tendulkar and Vinod Kambli not to forget Ajit Agarkar on Monday.

While Mumbai have many reasons to be in a holiday mood, Baroda, who ruled over the hosts for three successive years, are fighting with their backs against the wall.

The toast for Mumbai was raised by Morris who struck immediately on his introduction after lunch. Maintaining a consistent line the young player, who played three seasons for Orissa before making a return to Mumbai, reaped a rich harvest.

Morris conceded only one run in his first over, bowled a maiden in the next and then claimed a wicket each in his third and fourth overs.

He removed opener Connor Williams (breaking a threatening looking third wicket partnership of 55 runs — with Jacob Martin) forcing the batsman to edge one to wicketkeeper Dighe.

Morris then bowled newman Tushar Arothe round his legs and soon had the prize catch in Martin whom he trapped leg before.

The bowler then made another return in the second spell to break the painstaking eight wicket stand castling Rakesh Patel.

Patel had added 18 runs along with Nayan Mongia. The two had hung in for quite some time which was frustrating to Mumbai till Morris delivered again.

Ajit Agarkar and earlier Paras Mhambrey too had made their contributions before Morris arrived to claim the honours.

For Baroda, only opener Williams made a worthwhile contribution (39) while the rest succumbed meekly. With the innings coming to a close, lastman Sukhbir Singh hoisted a straight six in a bid to avoid the follow-on that however could not be. Then again, it was Mumbai’s prerorogative and they chose to prolong the visitors’ agony.

In the morning the Mumbai first innings folded up in a little under half an hour for the addition of just 19 runs to the overnight total.

Speaking of his exploits, a shy Robin said, “I am very happy and excited at my success thanks to Sachin Tendulkar. He had asked me to stick to the line and let the ball do the rest.”

Morris also appeared to have been helped by his stint in England where he played for Lindel Moor Club in the North Lancashire League. His showing has also proved that he has recovered from the nagging shoulder injury for which he had given the bowling hand a month’s rest.Scoreboard
Mumbai (1st innings) (Overnight 391 for 8)
Ajit Agarkar c Mongia b Rakesh Patel (165m, 132b, 11×4) 75
Paras Mhambrey c Satyajit Parab b Rakesh Patel (121m, 91b, 6×4) 42
Santosh Saxena Not Out (7m, 8b, 1×4) 4
Extras: (lb 5, nb 14) 19
Total: (All Out in 98.1 overs, 438 mins) 410
Fall of wkts: 9-405 (Agarkar)
Bowling: Zaheer Khan 20.3-3-75-3, Rakesh Patel 27.4-2-99-3, Sukhbir Singh 13-7-49-1, Valmik Buch 24-3-104-2, Ajit Bhoite 11-0-61-0, Tushar Arothe 2-0-17-0

Baroda (1st innings)
Connor Williams c Dighe b Robin Morris (156m, 112b, 5×4, 1×6) 39
Satyajit Parab c Muzumdar b Paras Mhambrey (53m, 31b, 2×4) 14
Himanshu Jadhav c Dighe b Paras Mhambrey (5m, 4b) 0
Jacob Martin lbw b Robin Morris (129m, 74b, 5×4) 30
Tushar Arothe b Robin Morris (10m, 4b, 1×4) 4
Ajit Bhoite b Ajit Agarkar (16m, 11b, 2×4) 11
Nayan Mongia c Dighe b Ajit Agarkar (18m, 16b, 1×4) 7
Rakesh Patel b Morris (82m, 69b, 7×4) 36
Valmik Buch Not Out (86m, 47b, 5×4) 23
Zaheer Khan c Muzumdar b Bahutule (22m, 16b, 3×4) 14
Sukhbir Singh run out Jaffer/Dighe (2b, 1×6) 6
Extras: (lb14, b1, nb3) 14
Total: (All Out in 63.5 overs, 302 mins) 202
Fall of wkts: 1-33 (Parab), 2-33 (Jadhav), 3-88 (Williams), 4-100 (Arothe), 5-111 (Bhoite), 6-115 (Martin), 7-133 (Mongia), 8-169 (Patel), 9-192 (Zaheer).
Bowling: Ajit Agarkar 15-3-44-2, Santosh Saxena 9-4-20-0 (3nb), Paras Mhambrey 18-4-59-2, Rajesh Powar 5-1-17-0, Robin Morris 10.5-4-27-4, Sairaj Bahutule 6-0-20-1.

Mumbai: 2nd innings
Robin Morris lbw b Zaheer Khan (43m, 34b, 5×4) 21
Wasim Jaffer batting (50m, 31b) 5
Sairaj Bahutule batting (12m, 13b, 1×4) 6
Total: (for 1 wkt, 13 overs) 32
Fall of wkts: 1-25 (Morris)
Bowling: Zaheer Khan 7-1-22-1, Rakesh Patel 4-3-4-0, Valmik Buch 2-0-6-0.