Ranji Trophy: Saurashtra need two wickets, Mumbai 62 runs

On a turning MCA-BKC track, Mumbai batsmen found it tough to handle the sharp turn and bounce. The third day saw many tense faces in the middle, including the umpires as they had to reverse a decision on Sarfaraz Khan. As left-arm spinner Dharmendr Jadeja got one to turn sharply from off the off-stump line and beat the edge and the ball ricochet off the keeper and settled in the first slip fielder’s hand, the umpire ruled him out. But after Ajinkya Rahane intervened, the umpire reversed the decision.

Despite the presence of Prithvi Shaw, Yashaswi Jaiswal, Suryakumar Yadav, Rahane and Sarfaraz, chasing 280 in the fourth innings was always going to be a challenging task, especially when one factors in Saurashtra’s attack, which included three spinners. Though they missed Unadkat, there was the experienced Jadeja for Saurashtra to bank on.

And once Mumbai lost Jaiswal for 28, the onus was on the rest. Shaw and Suryakumar steadied Mumbai’s innings and as long as the two were in the middle, the hosts looked very much in control. Scoring at a steady pace, they kept the pressure on Saurashtra attack. Whenever the situation demanded them to put their heads down and play a spell out, they did so. And they didn’t hesitate to use their feet – be it getting down the pitch or going back on the back foot — against spinners and keeping the scoreboard moving.

Although they had one more entire day left, playing out the time was not even an option as the pitch was only going to get difficult to bat as the game progressed. Jadeja, one of the best spinners going in the domestic circuit, repeatedly tested Suryakumar repeatedly. One of the fluent batters against spin, that the India batsman didn’t get any easy runs, said a thing or two. Eventually, Jadeja accounted for Suryakumar’s wicket as he went for a cut short, only for the ball to skid and go in with the angle and knock the stumps. Once the in-form batsman perished, Saurashtra smelt an opening and two overs later left-arm spinner Parth Bhut trapped Shaw for 68.

Skipper Rahane, bringing all his experience, defied the spinners for a while, but it was only for a matter of time as Bhut removed him for 16. And once the captain fell, it opened the floodgates. Sarfaraz and Hardik Tamore fell in quick succession to leave Mumbai in a deep hole. Although debutant Musheer Khan showed some resilience and grit, even he was adjudged LBW to Bhut for 23.

For Bhut, it has been a dream run. Playing his sixth first-class game, Bhut finished with four wickets on Day Three. He is yet another left-arm spinner in the making from Saurashtra. For the 25-year-old, whose father is a property dealer back in Junagadh, the performance holds a special place. For a spinner, who took cricket seriously only because he accompanied his friend to nets in the neighbourhood, Bhut is enjoying the run at the top.

“Bowling to a star-studded batting lineup is always a challenge and specially on this pitch accuracy holds the key. I didn’t do well in the first innings but I concentrated on my accuracy which was to bowl on a length where I can take wickets, it helped me today,” Bhut said.

Earlier in the day, Saurashtra, resuming their second innings at an overnight total of 120/6, went on to score 220 runs with Jadeja scoring crucial 90 runs. Prerak Mankad, who was batting on 25 overnight, went on to score 38.

Brief scores: Saurashtra 289 & 220 (D Jadeja 90, Prerak Mankad 38, Shams Mulani 6/65) vs Mumbai 230 & 218/8 (Prithvi Shaw 68, Suryakumar Yadav 38, Shams Mulani 30 not out; Parth Bhut 4/56, Yuvrajsinh Dodiya 3/80).