Munaf strikes as Mumbai batting stumbles

Munaf Patel may give an impression of being laidback with what he does on a cricket field,whether it is his unique,comical batting style or his...

Munaf Patel may give an impression of being laidback with what he does on a cricket field,whether it is his unique,comical batting style or his oft-criticised fielding displays. But it is with the ball in his hand that he often finds his spurts of inspiration.

And while it was a fiery three-wicket burst from the 26-year-old fast bowler that ended up lighting up the second day of the Irani Trophy encounter at the Vidarbha Cricket Association stadium in Nagpur,a toned-down Sreesanth who kept his composure played the perfect support-role as defending Ranji Trophy champions Mumbai reached 200 for six,still 60 runs behind ROIs first innings score,after bad light ensured a premature end to the day.

If the dark clouds hovering over the VCA stadium flattered to deceive,so did the Mumbai batsmen as they followed in their opponents footsteps and produced a disappointing display. It was Sreesanth who produced the first blow of the day as he knocked Mumbai opener Sahil Kukrejas off-stump off the ground with an in-swinger which kept slightly low. And it was not only with the ball that Sreesanth displayed controlled aggression he also surprisingly managed to remain unperturbed during his spat with Ramesh Powar towards the end of the day.

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These days,I prefer to concentrate on my bowling solely rather than worrying about what the batsman is up to. My stint with Warwickshire has really helped me calm down, explained the speedster.

Bowlers in domestic cricket had found dislodging the Wasim Jaffer-Ajinkya Rahane combination an almost impossible task last season. The duo looked well on their way towards yet another century stand,before Munaf began his inspired spell.

The Baroda paceman may have been fortuitous with his first wicket,as he got Rahane caught down the leg-side for 44 at the brink of lunch. But it was in the second session of play that he triggered the Mumbai collapse by getting rid of the well-set Jaffer. The Mumbai skipper had started the day in typical fashion,stroking the ball confidently,but fell victim to a loose shot,getting bowled for 68.

Munaf then accounted for young Prashant Naik,getting him caught behind with a perfect out-swinger and finished with figures of 3 for 47.

SCOREBOARD

Rest of India 1st innings: 260

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Mumbai 1st innings: (overnight) 38 for no loss: S Kukreja b Sreesanth 16; W Jaffer b Munaf 68; A Rahane c Saha b Patel 44; R Sharma c Saha b Tyagi 12; P Naik c Saha b Patel 1; A Agarkar c Tiwary b Tyagi 5; V Samant batting 19; R Powar batting 25; Extras (w-2,nb-8) 10

Total (for six wickets in 80 overs): 200

Fall of wickets: 1-51,2-132,3-143,4-147,5-147,6-160.

Bowling: Sreesanth 17-6-39-1; Munaf 19-4-47-3; Tyagi 12-2-56-2; Ojha 20-6-38-0; Jadeja 12-2-20-0.