Rohit knock puts Mumbai in lead

It was a day of what ifs for Murali Kartik & Co,who had Mumbai on the ropes at five down with a little over a 100 runs,but with as many as four catches spilled on the field,Railways allowed the visitors to break the stranglehold.

Mumbai began with overnight batsman Sahil Kukreja and night watchman Dhawal Kulkarni yet to get of the mark. Kukreja went first,dismissed by Shailender Gehlot without scoring.

Had Sanjay Bangar not made a hash of a chance at first slip,Gehlot would have struck twice in the first hour of play and more importantly,would have seen the back of Mumbai skipper Wasim Jaffer early. While Jaffer made his life count,stroking a 75,wickets kept tumbling at regular intervals at the other end.

Kulkarni was dropped soon after Jaffer by Kartik,but unlike his captain,the fast bowler was not able to capitalise on his luck,as the ball caught a thick outside edge of his bat off Harshad Rawle soon after and found solace inside keeper Cheluvuraj’s gloves. With Jaffer having scored the bulk of the 112 runs on the board,Kartik struck in successive overs. He trapped Jaffer plumb in front of the wicket before dismantling Abhishek Nayar’s stumps,leaving Mumbai reeling at 122/5.

Sharma dug deep into his mental reserves as he struck up a string of partnerships with the lower order during his rearguard knock. A 37-run stand with Ajit Agarkar got the team close to the first-innings lead,while the 74 he put on with number nine Vinayak Samant propelled the team towards a decent lead.

Brief scores: Railways 187; Mumbai 248/8 (R Sharma 94*,W Jaffer 75; M Kartik 3/70)