On a fast-moving Day 4 of the Irani Cup in Lucknow, Mumbai strengthened their position by taking a lead of 274 runs, finishing the day on 153/6. Rest of India (ROI) remain very much in the contest, especially after taking six quick wickets. Their priority tomorrow will be to bowl Mumbai out quickly to give themselves a realistic chance of chasing the target.
Spinners played a crucial role for both sides, with the pitch offering rough patches for the bowlers to exploit. ROI began the day on 393/5 but were eventually bowled out for 416, with Abhimanyu Easwaran missing out on a double hundred and Dhruv Jurel falling short of a century.
It has often been seen in cricket that one spell can change the course of the game. Shams Mulani bowled that spell for Mumbai. Initially, the Ranji Trophy champions appeared lacklustre as Easwaran and Jurel kept the scoreboard ticking briskly in the first session. Shardul Thakur, who hadn’t bowled the previous day, returned but couldn’t trouble the set batters.
Both Easwaran and Jurel seemed on course for their respective milestones, but Mulani changed the game by bowling round the wicket and targeting the rough patches. Although there was little help from the surface early on, both batters fell into the trap, attempting sweep shots and losing their wickets. Mulani then dismissed Manav Suthar, triggering an ROI collapse from 393/5 to 416 all out, with Mulani and Tanish Kotian claiming six wickets between them.
With a lead of 121 runs, Mumbai adopted an aggressive approach, aiming for an outright win given the pitch’s behaviour and the limited time left. Prithvi Shaw led the charge, expertly seeing off the new ball before unleashing an array of sweeps, drives, and cuts to score quickly. However, Shaw received little support from the other end as Suthar and Saransh Jain kept taking wickets at regular intervals. Four Mumbai batters, including Ajinkya Rahane, were dismissed for single-digit scores. Saransh was the standout bowler, using the rough and his variations effectively to dismantle Mumbai’s middle-order. He mixed his lengths well and wasn’t afraid to toss the ball up, forcing batters into mistakes.
As expected, batting became increasingly difficult in the final session, with unpredictable turn and bounce making it hard to read the ball off the pitch. Even Sarfaraz Khan, who smashed a double hundred in the first innings, found it tough to score freely. ROI captain Ruturaj Gaikwad was visibly frustrated after an ‘obstructing the field’ decision didn’t go in his team’s favour. Sarfaraz appeared to change direction while running a single, but the TV umpire ruled it unintentional.
A fair amount of time was lost during discussions between the umpires and Gaikwad. Sarfaraz and Kotian saw off the remaining overs to bring the day to a close.
Brief scores: Mumbai 537 all out (Sarfaraz Khan 222*, Ajinkya Rahane 97; Mukesh Kumar 4/109) and 153/6 (Prithvi Shaw 76, Tanush Kotian 20*; Saransh Jain 4/67) vs Rest of India 416 all out (Abhimanyu Easwaran 191, Dhruv Jurel 93; Tanush Kotian 3/101). Stumps, Day 4.