Ranji Trophy: Mumbai hit back to wrest initiative

Mumbai: Karnataka batsmen, barring Mayank Agarwal, floundered a golden opportunity to take a sizable first innings in the Ranji Trophy quarterfinal at the MCA-BKC ground on Saturday.

Resuming Day Two at 110/2, just 10 runs behind Mumbai’s 120 with eight first-innings wickets in hand, Karnataka were made to work hard by the Mumbai medium-pace quartet of captain Shardul Thakur, Mohit Avasthi, Tushar Deshpande and Suryansh Shedge.

The visitors could manage only a 53-run first-innings lead after being bowled out for 173. Thereafter, Mumbai batted far better than they did in the first innings, taking stumps at 189/2 with 136-run lead.

With the pitch playing livelier in the morning session, just like it did on Friday when the Karnataka speedsters struck repeatedly, it was Mumbai’s pay-back time. The early morning moisture made the ball talk and troubled the batsmen.

Mumbai bowled out Karnataka 23 minutes before lunch, taking the remaining eight wickets for an additional 63 runs, Avasthi and Deshpande finishing with 4/27 and 4/33, respectively.

However, it was Thakur who struck first on the day, dismissing Karun Nair, who edged to Yashasvi Jaiswal in the slips before the deficit was wiped out. And, with the scores level, Karnataka lost two more, Smaran R and Shreyas Gopal, off Avasthi for naughts.

If it was opener Akhil Hewardkar who survived in trying circumstances with the bat for Mumbai on the opening day, it was his counterpart Agarwal for the visitors. Though he missed out on a hundred by eight runs, he ensured a decent lead.

Since being relieved of captaincy, Agarwal seems to be enjoying his batting. In the first six matches as captain this season, Agarwal averaged 33.11 from nine innings, scoring 298 runs. In the last three innings, he has scored 46 and 53 in a winning cause against Punjab, and a crucial knock here, adding 38 to his overnight 54.

Agarwal showed no hurry in scoring and curbed his attacking instincts, not playing a single false stroke until the one that led to his downfall. After battling into his 90s, he went on the offensive against Deshpande. He failed to connect a pre-determined hoick on 92 but off the next ball, edged to second slip Siddhesh Lad to be eighth out and Karnataka 48 in front.

It was just another five runs before Karnataka folded up, Prasidh Krishna and Shikhar Shetty cleaned up by Deshpande and Avasthi, respectively, for their fourth scalps.

In their second innings, having the luxury of batting when the pitch dried considerably under the sun, Jaiswal and Herwadkar raised 77, the Test opener early on hooking Prasidh while driving forcefully through the off-side. Herwadkar, too, played his strokes, driving through cover and pulling as Mumbai made an earnest attempt to win back the contest from Karnataka.

However, the two well-set openers falling at the same score in the space of six deliveries – Herwadkar (33) run out by a direct throw by Kaverappa from fine leg going for a second run and Jaiswal (36) stumped off Shreyas Gopal – gave Karnataka the breakthroughs.

But Akash Anand (53 batting) and Musheer Khan (49 batting) ground the Karnataka attack with their 112-run unbroken stand for the third wicket.

Scoreboard

Mumbai (I Innings): 120 all out

Karnataka (I Innings O/n: 110/2): KL Rahul c Kotian b Avasthi 28, Mayank Agarwal c Lad b Deshpande 92, Devdutt Padikkal c Anand b Shedge 17, Karun Nair c Jaiswal b Thakur 4, Smaran R c Anand b Avasthi 0, Shreyas Gopal c Anand b Avasthi 0, Kruthik Krishna c Anand b Deshpande 9, Vidyadhar Patil c M Khan b Deshpande 4, Shikhar Shetty b Avasthi 4, Prasidh Krishna b Deshpande 0, Vidwath Kaverappa (not out) 4. Extras (LB-9, W-1, NB-1) 11. TOTAL (all out, 47.1 overs) 173.

Fall of wickets: 1-50, 2-88. 3-119, 4-120, 5-120, 6-156, 7-164, 8-168, 9-168.

Bowling: Shardul Thakur 9-2-52-1, Mohit Avasthi 15.1-4-27-4, Tushar Deshpande 11-3-33-4, Suryansh Shedge 8-0-37-1, Shams Mulani 4-0-15-0.

Mumbai (II Innings): Yashasvi Jaiswal st K Krishna b Shreyas 36, Akhil Herwadkar (run out) 33, Akash Anand (batting) 53, Musheer Khan (batting) 49. Extras (B-1, LB-10, W-6, NB-1) 18. TOTAL (for 2 wkts, 52 overs) 189.

Fall of wickets: 1-77, 2-77.

Bowling: Vidyadhar Patil 12-2-52-0, Prasidh Krishna 11-1-37-0, Vidwath Kaverappa 7-0-36-0, Shreyas Gopal 13-2-35-1, Shikhar Shetty 9-2-18-0.

Other quarterfinals: Brief scores: At Indore: Jammu & Kashmir: 194 all out & 84/5 in 26 overs (Abdul Samad 32; Kuldeep Sen 2-25, Venkatesh Iyer 2-10) vs Madhya Pradesh: (O/n: 28/0):152 all out in 53.4 overs (Yash Dubey 58; Auqib Nabi 7-40, Sunil Kumar 3-47).

At Kolkata: Andhra: (O/n: 264/6): 295 all out in 88.4 overs (Srikar Bharat 47, Shaik Rasheed 46, Ricky Bhui 83, Nitish Kumar Reddy 33; Mukesh Kumar 5-66, Akash Deep 4-79) vs Bengal: 199/5 in 63 overs (Sudip Kumar Gharami 112 n.o.; KV Sasikanth 2-43).

At Jamshedpur: Jharkhand: 235 all out in 85 overs (Sharandeep Singh 26, Virat Singh 47, Aditya Singh 83; Janmejay Joshi 4-46, Aditya Rawat 3-39, Mayank Mishra 3-50) vs Uttarakhand: (O/n: 4/0): 282/5 in 87 overs (Avneesh Sudha 64, Kunal Chandela 68, Jagadeesha Suchith 60 n.o.; Saurabh Rawat 32).