Thanks to some fine bowling by their seamers
Mohit Avasthi
(six for 27 in 14.5 overs) and
Shivam Dube
10-7-7-4), Mumbai are on the cusp of starting their 2023-24
Ranji Trophy
campaign with a resounding victory.
On another weather-affected day of Mumbai’s lungopener against Elite Group debutants Bihar at the
Moinul-Haq Stadium
in Patna, Avasthi, who had taken four wickets on Day Two, took two more wickets.
Powered by Avasthi's heroics with the ball, Mumbai shot out Bihar for merely 100 to gain a huge 151-run first innings lead. The visitors then decided to enforce the follow on.
Staring at a huge defeat, Bihar slipped to 91 for six in their second innings, as allrounder Shivam Dube returned terrific figures of 4-7, castling Sraman Nigrodh (40, 55b, 6x4, 1x4) and then trapping
Babul Kumar
(1), Aakash Raj (5) and Sakibul Gani (0) all lbw.
“It’s definitely a great feeling to start the red ball season with a six-for. I am really grateful to my captain, coach and the teammates for keeping the trust in me which has helped me to execute my plans confidently. The first goal from here is to secure an outright win for my team. I will certainly try to build my performances from here and maintain my process going into the upcoming games,” Avasthi told TOI from Patna.
With Bihar still trailing by 60 runs in their second dig, Mumbai would hope to wrap this up quickly on Day Four and bag an innings or 10-wicket win, which will give them a bonus point.
Brief Scores: Mumbai 251 (Bhupen Lalwani 65, Suved Parkar 50, Tanush Kotian 50; Veer Pratap Singh 5-45) vs Bihar 100 & 91-6 (Sharman Nigrodh 40; Shivam Dube 4-7).
Mumbai in final
Mumbai made it to the final of their Cooch Behar Trophy (for Under-19) when they outplayed Uttar Pradesh by nine wickets in the semifinal clash at the Sachin Tendulkar Gymkhana in Kandivli. Akash Pawar took five for 75 and Manan Bhatt three for 17, as UP, resuming at 95 for three, folded up for 187. Mumbai then chased down the lowly fourth innings target quickly, with Nutan (81*) cutting loose. Nutan and opener Awais Khan (46 not out, 70b, 7x4,1x6) put on 123 for the second wicket in just 122 balls to seal Mumbai's win.
Brief Scores: UP 250 & 187 (Manav Sindhu 67, Bhavy Goyal 46; Akash Pawar 5-75, Manan Bhatt 3-17) lost to Mumbai 307 & 133-1 (Nutan 81*, Awais Khan 46*) by nine wickets.
Himanshu bags 7-86
Mumbai off-spinner Himanshu Singh returned a superb haul of seven for 86 in 29.3 overs to bowl out Vidarbha for 254 in Nagpur on Day One of their Col CK Nayudu (for Under-23) match on Sunday. Mumbai were 44 for no loss. Brief Scores: Vidarbha 254 (Harsh Dubey 65, Mandar Mahale 52, Tejas Soni 38; Himanshu Singh 7-86) vs Mumbai 44-0.
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