Sheldon Jackson (85, 151b, 10x4, 1x6) and his twin partnerships with stand-in captain Arpit Vasavada (46, 77b, 7x4) and all-rounder Chirag Jani (45 n.o., 101b, 5x4, 1x6) ensured Saurashtra held the upper hand on a gripping day at the SCA stadium.
Thanks to Jackson’s solid knock and his 82-run and 66-run association with Vasavada and Jani for the fourth and sixth wicket respectively, Saurashtra ended day two of the Ranji Trophy Group B tie at 257/6 on Wednesday, five runs shy of Mumbai’s 262.
With the second new ball just one over old, Mumbai will rely on the pace duo of Royston Dias and Tushar Deshpande — both of whom were impressive — to fold up Saurashtra’s first innings quickly on Thursday.
Had it not been for Jackson’s resolute knock, Mumbai could well have tightened its grip despite adding just 13 to its overnight total of 249/8. When Jackson walked out to bat in the 22nd over, Saurashtra was 64/2 and offie Shashank Attarde was in the middle of a virtuous spell.
Spot of bother
Having enticed opener Harvik Desai into a return catch after beating him and Divyaraj Chauhan several times, Attarde soon bowled Chauhan through the gate with one that pitched and turned in sharply. At 77/3 at lunch, Saurashtra was in a spot of bother.
But Jackson and Vasavada showed their wealth of experience to not let either Attarde or left-arm spinn duo of Shams Mulani and Vinayak Bhoir settle into rhythm. It forced Mumbai captain Aditya Tare to reintroduce pace and eventually it was Dias who got one to jag back in on Vasavada and trapped him leg before.
Deshpande then unleashed his pace on Prerak Mankad and the all-rounder perished to a well-directed short-ball, nicking it to Tare on the cusp of tea.
At 173/5, Jackson, having crossed his fifty by then, saw Jani ease the pressure on him as the duo waged a counter attack on the spinners after the break. Just when Jackson was cruising towards towards his third hundred of the season, having tucked Bhoir through on-side for a brilliant boundary, he edged the spinner to Tare.
Scoreboard:
Mumbai — 1st innings: Jay Bista lbw b Dharmendrasinh 43, Bhupen Lalwani c Bhut b Dharmendrasinh 25, Suryakumar Yadav lbw b Mankad 0, Siddhesh Lad lbw b Dharmendrasinh 13, Sarfaraz Khan b Makwana 78, Shams Mulani c Vasavada b Kushang 60, Aditya Tare c Desai b Dharmendrasinh 10, Vinayak Bhoir lbw b Mankad 21, Shashank Attarde c Desai b Dharmendrasinh 0, Tushar Deshpande c Mankad b Kushang 6, Royston Dias (not out) 4, Extras (b-2) 2; Total (in 92.3 overs): 262.
Fall of wickets: 1-62, 2-63, 3-74, 4-88, 5-197, 6-214, 7-241, 8-249, 9-251.
Saurashtra bowling: Kushang 14.3-4-55-2, Jani 4-1-9-0, Mankad 16-3-35-2, Dharmendrasinh 30-6-92-5, Bhut 7-1-23-0, Makwana 21-6-46-1.
Saurashtra — 1st innings: Harvik Desai c & b Attarde 33, Snell Patel c Tare b Dias 4, Divyaraj Chauhan b Attarde 22, Sheldon Jackson c Tare b Bhoir 85, Arpit Vasavada lbw b Dias 46, Prerak Mankad c Tare b Deshpande 1, Chirag Jani (batting) 45, Dharmendrasinh Jadeja (batting) 9, Extras (b-1, lb-6, nb-5): 12; Total (for six wkts. in 84 overs): 257.
Fall of wickets: 1-18, 2-64, 3-73, 4-155, 5-173, 6-239.
Mumbai bowling: Desphande 14-2-57-1, Dias 15-3-40-2, Mulani 22-4-57-0, Attarde 22-7-56-2, Bhoir 11-1-40-1.
