By Atreyo Mukhopadhyay in Kolkata
The Ranji Trophy quarter-final between Mumbai and Haryana was evenly poised after Day 2. In reply to Mumbai’s 315, Haryana reached 263/5. With three days to go, the 42-time champions will try to keep the deficit to as little as possible or even snatch a lead. The underdogs will try to stretch their first innings.
The highlight of the day at Eden Gardens was a flawless century by Ankit Kumar. The Haryana skipper anchored the innings with a knock of 136 which came off 206 balls. It was his second century of the season. The right-hander shared an opening stand of 87 with Lakshya Dalal (34) and added 81 with Yash Dalal (36) for the second wicket.
After having rescued Mumbai with the bat, Shams Mulani and Tanush Kotian came back to trouble Haryana with the ball. The left-arm spinner and the off-spinner took two wickets each to prevent the opposition from taking control of the match. Each time Haryana appeared to have gained en edge, these two struck. Mulani’s dismissal of Ankit towards the end was a big blow for Haryana.
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Earlier, Mumbai failed to make proper use of the new ball as Shardul Thakur and Mohit Awasthi bowled wrong lines. The former had four catchers in the slip-gully region, but bowled incoming deliveries to the right-handers on an off-middle line. Later, Awasthi bowled outside off with two men in catching positions in front of square on the leg side. Left-armer Royston Dias was better, but failed to make the batters play as often as his captain would have liked.
Kotian, who had made 97 and added 165 for the eighth wicket with Mulani, brought his team back with two wickets in the final session. The off-spinner switched to around the wicket after bowling two overs and trapped Yash leg-before. He later got Nishant Sindhu when the left-hander chopped the ball back on to the stumps while attempting a cut one which wasn’t that short.
“The pitch will assist spin as the match goes on,” said Kotian. “The freshness that was there on Day 1 is decreasing. I don’t think first-innings lead, unless it’s huge, will matter in this game. We have done well by taking those wickets. I was disappointed to get out in the nineties once again, but told myself that I have another opportunity with the ball,” said last season’s player of the tournament.
Mulani had sent back Himanshu Rana in between and then took the big wicket of Ankit. The batter had survived a DRS call the ball before and edged an attempted drive, which was caught at slip. Until then, Ankit was unfazed. Other than a short period when Shardul bowled short to him with a packed leg-side field, he was untroubled. It was a massive wicket for Mumbai at a critical time of the game.
Brief scores: Mumbai 315 (Tanush Kotian 97, Shams Mulani 91, Anshul Kamboj 3/71, Sumit Kumar 3/81) vs Haryana 263/5 (Ankit Kumar 136).
Advantage Vidarbha against Tamil Nadu
Medium-pacer Aditya Thakare’s four-wicket haul handed Vidrabha the edge against Tamil Nadu in Nagpur. After Karun Nair (122) and Harsh Tyagi (69) helped the hosts make 353 in the first innings, Thakare took 4/18 to peg the visitors back. Tamil Nadu recovered from 38/4 thanks to C Andre Siddarth’s 65, but slumped to 159/6 at stumps.
Brief scores: Vidarbha 353 (Karun Nair 122, Danish Malewar 75, Harsh Tyagi 69, Vijay Shankar 3/75, Sonu Yadav 3/91) vs Tamil Nadu 159/6 (C Andre Siddarth 65, Aditya Thakare 4/18).
Nabi puts J&K on top
Medium-pacer Auqib Nabi’s 5/36 put Jammu & Kashmir in a strong position against Kerala in Pune. After being bowled out for 280, J&K kept Kerala to 200/9 at stumps. Nabi, who contributed a 30-ball 32 at No. 10 to help his team score valuable runs, struck twice early to reduce Kerala to 11/3. Jalaj Saxena (67) and Salman Nizar (49 batting) helped the team recover. But they lost wickets in a heap after the departure of Saxena.
Brief scores: J&K 280 (MD Nidheesh 6/75) vs Kerala 200/9 (Jalaj Saxena 67, Auqib Nabi 5/36).
Gujarat in position to corner Saurashtra
In Rajkot, Gujarat moved into a position of strength against Saurashtra. In reply to the home team’s 216, Gujaraty reached 260/4 courtesy Jaymeet Patel (88 batting) and Manan Hingrajia (83). These two shared a stand of 134 for the fourth wicket.
Brief scores: Saurashtra 216 vs Gujarat 260/4 (Jaymeet Patel 88 batting, Manan Hingrajia 83).
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