It may be perceived as a dull day of a high-intensity game, with only 215 runs having been scored in 75.3 overs for the loss of nine wickets. But the manner in which only one side dominated throughout the day meant Mumbai had laid one hand on what will possibly be its 42nd Ranji Trophy title, with Vidarbha having its back to the wall.
Riding on an all-round performance – dominated by spin twins of Shams Mulani and Tanush Kotian along with swansong man Dhawal Kulkarni – Mumbai bundled Vidarbha out for a paltry 105 in its first essay.
Captain Ajinkya Rahane then combined with promising batter Musheer Khan to dig in deep with an unbroken association of 107 runs for the third wicket to give Mumbai a firm grip on the match.
At the end of the second day’s proceedings at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai had an enviable advantage of 260 runs, with eight wickets remaining. The manner in which Rahane, going through the leanest patch of his career right through the season, and Musheer ground it out not only avoided a collapse like in the first innings but also gave Vidarbha batters a lesson of how to grind in a big-match against quality bowling attack.
Vidarbha was depleted with Aditya Sarvate, the primary spinner, suffering back spasms. Even though he returned to the field towards the end of the second session and bowled a spell in the last, Sarvate was far from being at his accurate best, making Rahane and Musheer’s job slightly easier.
While Musheer’s use of crease against pacers and spinners alike was a feature of his innings, Rahane grew in confidence as the afternoon progressed, earning a standing ovation from former India captain Sunil Gavaskar, who watched the latter half of the day from the president’s gallery.
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Earlier in the morning, Mumbai had to ensure the pressure didn’t loosen up after the pacers had Vidarbha in a tizzy at 31 for three. It took Kulkarni only 28 balls to earn the prize scalp of Atharva Taide, who poked at one that moved away from him.
Nightwatchman Aditya Thakare hung around along with in-form Yash Thakur for the next hour, with Thakare being fortunate to have been dropped at silly-point by Bhupen Lalwani. But Mulani struck off successive balls to get rid of Thakare (lbw off a straighter one) and captain Akshay Wadkar (edge to the keeper with one that spun away after pitching on middle and leg) off successive balls.
That triggered the collapse as Vidarbha lost its last six wickets for just 26 runs, with Umesh Yadav’s wild heave off offie Tanush Kotian being safely caught by Tushar Deshpande while running in from long-stop.
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