Ranji Trophy: Mumbai hang on, for now

Later in the day, even the Karnataka players would reveal to have been shocked by the sight of a pale Nayar ambling towards the middle. Gopal would even term his rival’s arrival at the crease as ‘ridiculous’. Nayar had after all been advised two-weeks of rest by the doctors. He had defied those words. To his credit, he made the sacrifice worth it, at least temporarily, surviving 41 balls, even if he looked rather distraught and out of sorts on occasions. And even if only managed to score a couple of runs off those deliveries.

But he stayed put. He survived, and ensured that Mumbai lived to fight another day. Young Siddhesh Lad held fort at the other end, stroking a fluent 41 off 99 deliveries and remaining unbeaten.

It had been a day of grit and gumption for the Mumbai batsmen even before Nayar’s heroic display in the middle. And it was led by their inspirational skipper Aditya Tare. Eventually the aggressive wicket-keeper batsman fell two runs short of his century. But till the time he was there, he not only kept Karnataka at bay, he was also breathing some life and confidence into his team’s morale. Maybe even showing them a faint glimpse of an improbable win.

For, he hardly looked in any trouble against the home team bowlers, even as Vinay Kumar shuffled his bowlers around, at times with hope, other times in desperation. This after Mumbai had lost Akhil Herwadkar in the early going, being trapped in front by Abhimanyu Mithun.
It was Mithun who removed Shreyas Iyer as well, but not before the in-form right-hander had made another half-century for the season. As always it was one filled with attractive strokes. He could have fallen early but stand-in keeper Uthappa had dropped him off just the fourth ball he faced.

Undeterred, Tare continued to find a perfect mix between solid defense and calculated attack. In all he hit 15 fours, each hit as powerfully as the next. And while he and Iyer were together, putting on 76 for the second wicket, Mumbai looked in a good space. Then Iyer fell, attempting a meek pull-shot at the returning Mithun. Then in walked Suryakumar Yadav. Known for his ultra-aggressive approach, the erstwhile Mumbai skipper for once dropped anchor.

His first boundary didn’t come till he faced 68 deliveries, and the two dynamic batsmen added 12 runs in 15 overs in the second session. It was during this period that Sreenath Aravind returned to give Karnataka the wicket they required, getting Tare caught behind. That is before Mithun and Vinay Kumar used the second new-ball to get rid of Yadav and Nikhil Patil, and Gopal got Mota to get Nayar to the crease.
Briefscores: Karnataka 202 & 286 vs Mumbai 44 & 277/6 in 107 overs.