Yadav century rescues Mumbai

Out-of-form Suryakumar Yadav notched up a timely, counter-attacking hundred to steer defending champions Mumbai to 306 for seven against Maharashtra in their Ranji Trophy quarterfinal match at Wankhede Stadium here on Wednesday.

Coming in to bat when Mumbai were tottering at 101 for four after lunch, Yadav (120) and Vinit Indulkar (82), playing his first match for Mumbai after returning to its fold following a three-season stint with Himachal Pradesh, hit back in style to help the hosts steady the boat.

Maharashtra bounced back late in the day when medium pacer Anupam Sanklecha dismissed both the batsmen, while Samad Fallah took the wicket of Shardul Thakur (4). At stumps, Iqbal Abdulla (9 not out) and captain Zaheer Khan (5 not out) were at the crease.

The visitors had the 40-time champions on the rack after winning the toss, but they let the game slip away when Yadav, who batted for 209 minutes and faced 139 balls while hitting 18 fours, attacked the bowling. Indulkar also chipped in with important runs as he played the supporting role to a nicety. The 23-year-old Yadav compiled his first ton in 15 matches and after a gap of over two years, his last coming in December 2011.

He hit 17 fours in 115 balls when he reached the milestone, his fourth first class century and third in the championship for Mumbai.

The two batsmen added 183 runs in 261 balls for the fifth wicket to wrest back the initiative before Maharashtra hit back in the last half an hour.

SCOREBOARD

MUMBAI (I Innings): Wasim Jaffer c Bawne b Mundhe 44, Kaustubh Pawar c Motwani b Fallah 19, Aditya Tare c Fallah b Sanklecha 3, Vinit Indulkar c Motwani b Sanklecha 82, Abhishek Nayar c Jadhav b Fallah 5, Suryakumar Yadav c Khurana b Sanklecha 120, Iqbal Abdulla (batting) 9, Shardul Thakur c Khurana b Fallah 4, Zaheer Khan (batting) 5. Extras (B-4, LB-6, W-2, NB-3) 15. Total (for 7 wkts, 84 overs) 306. Fall of wickets: 1-35, 2-55, 3-92, 4-101, 5-284, 6-295, 7-300. Bowling: Samad Fallah 23-4-71-3, Anupam Sanklecha 18-4-55-3, Shrikant Mundhe 22-5-70-1, Harshad Khadiwale 6-3-23-0, Akshay Darekar 12-0-54-0, Chirag Khurana 3-0-23-0.