Hardik Tamore lifts Mumbai at Ranji Trophy semifinals against UP

Early strikes leave UP on a shaky 25/2 after rivals post 393

Opportunities are hard to come by in a talent-filled Mumbai side. Hardik Tamore got a place in the playing XI for the Ranji Trophy semifinal against Uttar Pradesh after the experienced wicketkeeper-batter Aditya Tare was ruled out following a finger injury in the quarterfinal.

The talented 24-year-old, who captained Mumbai to victory in the Col CK Nayudu Trophy held prior to the Ranji Trophy knockouts, made the most of the chance that came his way at the Just Cricket Academy ground here on Wednesday. The right-hander, carrying on from where he left off the previous evening, struck a composed 115 (233b, 351m, 12x4, 1x6) — his second first-class century in just his fifth game — to put Mumbai in a position of strength.

Mumbai, riding on Tamore’s ton and a doughty half-century from in-form all-rounder Shams Mulani (50, 130b, 5x4), posted 393 all out on a truncated day after the opening session was wiped out following heavy overnight rain. Seasoned Mumbai pacers Dhawal Kulkarni and Tushar Deshpande were on the money in an hour they got to bowl in the evening, picking a wicket each to reduce UP to 25/2 at stumps.

Although it was overcast for most of the day, the wicket wasn’t necessarily challenging for the batters. It did have pace and bounce but unless bowlers were skilled enough to move the ball around, all the batters needed was application and patience. UP bowlers, aware of their limitations, stuck to the ploy that worked for them on Tuesday, bowling wide of the off-stump and forcing Mumbai batters to come at them.

However, that strategy came unstuck against Tamore and Mulani. The duo, having noticed how many of their colleagues gifted away wickets cheaply, put a price on their respective wickets. They didn’t fall prey to the trap around the off-stump, happily leaving most of them alone. There were phases when the scoreboard barely moved but they were ready to grind it out.

UP didn’t have a Plan B and Tamore and Mulani cashed in after their bowlers began to grow weary. They kept finding boundaries at regular intervals as Mumbai kept marching on nicely. UP, however, broke that momentum and the 113-run sixth-wicket partnership when Mulani perished after his flick off Karan Sharma (4/46) ricocheted off his pads to short leg fielder Madhav Kaushik.

Tamore, though, wasn’t perturbed. Aware a century here will enhance his credentials of gaining a regular place in the playing XI, he batted with responsibility. Compact in defence, he hardly played expansive drives. He banked on his pull and cut shots to find the boundaries, else was comfortable taking singles and twos. Half of his runs came that way in fact.

He took a rare risk while on 98, playing a reverse sweep to bring up his century. Right after that, he tightened his game again, hoping to take Mumbai past 400. But that wasn’t to be as UP cleaned up the tail in quick succession. Mumbai though ended the day in a stronger position after prising out two UP wickets to set up an intriguing Moving Day.