Akash Parkar considers himself as a batting all-rounder. But it was with the ball that the Bandra boy, playing as the lone all-rounder for the first time in Mumbai’s Ranji Trophy campaign this season, made a statement to help Mumbai bowl Tripura Tripura out for a meagre total in its must-win Group C encounter. The Tripura seamers then hit back to ensure Mumbai didn’t run away with the game on the opening day at the Wankhede Stadium.
Thanks to Parkar’s five for 32 on his comeback as Abhishek Nayar’s replacement, Tripura folded up for 194. Jay Bista then saw the day off in the company of night-watchman Karsh Kothari, who survived a barrage of short balls, to see Mumbai end the day on 77 for three.
Read: Kerala restricts Haryana
En route, Bista lost an on-song Prithvi Shaw, who cramped himself up while trying to cut Rana Datta too close to his body and playing on to the stumps. Shreyas Iyer, who nicked one that rose sharply from Mura Singh to the wicket-keeper, and Suryakumar Yadav, who offered a return catch to Abhijit Sarkar after hitting two crisp boundaries, were the other Mumbai players to have been dismissed.
Cat among the pigeons
The day may not have ended on an ideal note. It didn't begin as well for Mumbai, with Shaw dropping Samrat Singha off Dhawal Kulkarni at first slip in the third over after Aditya Tare inserted Tripura in to bat. Kulkarni had his man in the next over, with the batsman nicking to Tare. Despite losing Udiyan Bose to Kulkarni, Tripura had raced to 55 for two in 11 overs.
Parkar was then introduced into the atack and sneaked through the defence of set opener Bishal Ghosh off his fourth ball. In an accurate spell that read 9-5-5-2, Parkar also got the prize scalp of Smit Patel, who inside-edged him on to the stumps.
After lunch, veteran Yashpal Singh and captain Mura Singh started building a partnership. Tare re-introduced Parkar just before the drinks break and the lanky bowler struck in the third over, inducing Yashpal into edging one behind the wickets. Later on, he took wickets off successive balls - Mura, caught at short extra-cover, and Datta, caught by Yadav at second slip - to leave Tripura reeling at 152 for eight.
Abhijit Sarkar and Gurender Singh then hit some lusty blows, with each of them hitting a straight six at either ends. But once left-arm spinner Kothari trapped Gurender in the front of the wickets in the first over after tea, the Tripura innings came to an end soon afterwards. Had Mumbai fielders not made a mess of five catching opportunities, Tripura may have been dismissed for an even lower total.
Comments
SHARE