Hindustan Times (Patiala)

Mumbai in control vs UP

- Rajesh Pansare rajesh.pansare@htlive.com

MUMBAI: All season long, Mumbai have perfected the art of pinning down their opponents when they have got the slightest opportunit­y to do so and on Thursday, they did exactly that to Uttar Pradesh as they extended their lead to 346 and edged closer to a spot in the Ranji Trophy final.

Mumbai skittled UP out for 180 to take a 213-run first-innings lead. At stumps, they had reached 133 /1 with Yashasvi Jaiswal (35*, 114b) and Armaan Jaffer (32*, 67b) at the crease after Prithvi Shaw had given them a solid start with his whirlwind knock of 64 from 71 balls.

After negating the first hour, UP were sitting pretty at 64/2 with skipper Karan Sharma (27, 76b) and Madhav Kaushik (38, 91b) extending their overnight partnershi­p for the third wicket to 60. Sharma in particular looked to up the scoring but that proved to be his undoing as he chased a wide one from Mohit Avasthi (3/39), which was brilliantl­y caught at second slip by Sarfaraz Khan.

The momentum shifted in Mumbai’s favour and they quickly had UP on the mat, reducing them to 107/7. If not for Shivam Mavi’s quickfire 48 from 55 balls, UP would have folded up below 150. Avasthi was well-supported by fellow pacer Tushar Deshpande (3/34) and off-spinner Tanush Kotian (3/35) who picked up three wickets each.

Kaushik was the next to fall to a brilliant catch by Suved Parkar at short-leg off Kotian. If one rates the efforts put in by respective camps during the match, Mumbai will score very high when it comes to fielding as they latched onto every opportunit­y that came their way while UP were guilty of dropping catches at crucial junctures.

They spilled Shaw when he was on 13 and he made them pay for it. Similarly, Jaiswal was dropped twice in the first innings and he went on to make a century. Mumbai’s second innings had got off to a peculiar start as Shaw started off in a rush while Jaiswal anchored himself at one end. The left-hand batter played 54 balls before he scored his first runs—a boundary off Ankit Rajpoot.

 ?? ANI FILE ?? Mumbai skipper Prithvi Shaw scored 64 on Thursday.
ANI FILE Mumbai skipper Prithvi Shaw scored 64 on Thursday.

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