Mumbai collapse in 500th game
Famed batting fails against littleknown Baroda pacers
BARODA’S YOUNG PACE BOWLERS ATIT SHETH AND LUKMAN MERIWALA STOLE MUMBAI’S THUNDER WITH A FINE EXHIBITION OF SWING BOWLING,
MUMBAI: After the grand celebrations to mark Mumbai’s 500th Ranji Trophy game, the opening day of the landmark match proved to be a bit of an anticlimax.
The Mumbai boys were expected to come out all inspired on Thursday morning, having been treated to some great stories of the past teams’ feats at the function held on the eve of the match against Baroda. Expectations were also high because the hosts were at full strength with Test star Ajinkya, rising star Shreyas Iyer and batting prodigy Prithvi Shaw all in their line-up.
However, Baroda’s young pace bowlers Atit Sheth and Lukman Meriwala stole Mumbai’s thunder with a fine exhibition of swing bowling, claiming five wickets each to bundle out the home team for 171 at the Wankhede Stadium. In reply, the visitors did well to reach 63 for one.
It was a playing surface which required the batsmen to show a lot of application, but the batsmen failed to muster the ‘khadoos’ attitude which defines their seniors.
The day began with a felicitation function where the players were handed caps to commemorate the 500th game.
But the celebratory mood was short-lived. Instead, all the focus was on the opposition — the conditions seemed to benefit Baroda as they quietly went about the job of dismantling the strongest batting line-up in the country.
PUJARA HITS 43RD TON
RAJKOT: Cheteswar Pujara scored his 43rd first-class hundred and Snell Patell his first, guiding Saurashtra to a comfortable 311/1 at stumps on day one of their Ranji Trophy Group A match against defending champions Gujarat.
Pujara (115) and Patel (156) shared an unbeaten 252-run stand after new recruit Robin Uthappa fell in the 24th over.
It was good match practice for Pujara ahead of the Sri Lanka series that begins with the first Test at the Eden Gardens from November 16.
The gritty right-hander faced 188 balls and his effort included 15 fours. Pujara had broken Vijay Merchant’s record of most double hundreds in first-class cricket by
an Indian after scoring 204 against Jharkhand last week.
Patel too was impressive in his eighth first-class game and
played 277 balls in an effort that included 21 boundaries.