Eknath Kerkar came good against his alma mater while Lakshay Garg showed his prowess with the willow to help Goa pile on the pressure on Mumbai on the second day of their Ranji Trophy league game at the Narendra Modi Stadium.
Kerkar (71, 148b, 6x4) and Garg’s (59, 86b, 7x4, 2x6) 96-run association for the eighth wicket overshadowed Shams Mulani’s (6/107) second successive five-wicket haul for Mumbai as Goa ended its first innings at 327, with a hefty lead of 164 in the first innings.
AS IT HAPPENED |
Despite Mumbai captain Prithvi Shaw getting off to a flier, Darshan Misal enticed him into a false shot during the last hour’s play, with Mumbai placed at 57 for one at the end of the second day’s proceedings at the Narendra Modi Stadium.
With Goa starting the day at 114 for two, 49 runs adrift Mumbai’s mediocre 163, Mumbai required its pacers to strike early. Had Sachin Yadav, fielding at first slip with his shin pads, not dropped a regulation nick off opener Amogh Desai’s blade in Dhawal Kulkarni’s first over, Mumbai may have put the opposition under pressure.
Once he got the reprieve, Desai and captain Snehal Kauthankar saw off Kulkarni and Mohit Avasthi’s initial burst. Seventy minutes into the day’s play, Mulani struck twice in three balls, dismissing Kauthankar (caught at backward point) and Shubham Ranjane (dubiously adjudged caught-behind).
With Mulani going through Desai’s defence and Dhawal Kulkarni inducing an edge off Darshan Misal’s blade at the stroke of lunch, Goa was in a spot of bother at 180 for six.
Kerkar, having moved to Goa from Mumbai at the start of the season, then found an ally in Shreekant Wagh as the duo steadied the ship with a 46-run stand until the latter slashed offie Tanush Kotian at point. Then on, for the next 24 overs, Kerkar and Garg frustrated Mumbai and regained control.
With Shaw letting Kotian and debutant leggie Prashant Solanki bowl in tandem in a bid to give Mulani a break, Kerkar swept at will while Garg waged his long handle. Garg was especially harsh on Solanki, amassing 23 runs off 11 balls, including two sixes against the turn.
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Having called back into the attack half an hour hour after tea, it didn’t take Mulani too long to strike as he wiped off the remaining three wickets and let Shaw and Aakarshit Gomel reduce the deficit in an hour.
Shaw went after Garg, with three crisp drives in the first over and continued to drive and cut at will against offspinner Amit Yadav, who shared the new ball. However, he missed a sweep - a ball after a confusion between him and Gomel while running between the wicket that almost cost Mumbai a wicket - off a straight ball and was adjudged
leg-before wicket to give Goa another reason to smile at stumps.
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