Gujarat snatched the first-innings lead from Mumbai on the concluding day of the Ranji Trophy Group ‘A’ encounter at the KSCA Stadium here on Thursday. An enterprising innings by speedster Shardul Thakur (56, 89b, 6x4, 2x6) brought Mumbai within 15 runs of the Gujarat total (437) before Jasprit Bumrah (78-8-71-6) forced him to hole out to Manpreet Juneja at square leg while attempting a hook.
Following the result, Mumbai continues to remain on top with 26 points followed by Tamil Nadu (23) and Gujarat (21). But on a surface which held no demons for the batsmen it would have expected much more than a solitary point.
However, it shouldn’t take away anything from Gujarat. Its bowlers were as disciplined as its Mumbai counter-parts and in Bumrah it had a trump card, who, with his express pace, took the nature of the surface out of the equation.
Earlier overnight batsmen Shreyas Iyer, batting on 191, seemed Mumbai’s lone hope in bridging the 109-run deficit. But on the fourth morning, he seemed rather fidgety. Especially after surviving a run out chance when Juneja, with Shreyas stranded mid-pitch, sought to uproot the stumps directly instead of throwing it to the wicket-keeper.
Then Bumrah made him edge towards the first slip only for it to fall short. It was not long before Rush Kalaria had him caught behind. It brought Shardul to the crease and 25-year-old put on an impressive display of his secondary skill.
With Aditya Dhumal he was involved in a 37-run partnership for the ninth wicket and then in the company of Vishal Dabholkar accounted for 41 tenth-wicket runs. He drove elegantly and didn’t flinch when bounced by the likes of Bumrah. On one such occasion he even pulled the India international for six in front of square. A second such attempt though brought his downfall.
In the second essay, Gujarat scored 82 without loss from 45 overs. But in the context of the match, it was merely academic.
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