Jammu and Kashmir stunned a star-studded Mumbai by five wickets to inch closer to the knockouts of the Ranji Trophy here on Saturday.
A decade ago, a young J&K team had shocked the domestic powerhouse, and this time, the visitor repeated its dominance. Despite a gritty century from Shardul Thakur, J&K secured six valuable points with a spirited performance. On the other hand, the loss has jeopardised defending champion Mumbai’s hopes of making it to the next stage.
At the MCA-BKC ground, Mumbai extended its lead to 204, riding on a 184-run partnership for the eighth wicket between Shardul (119) and Tanush Kotian (62), before Auqib Nabi sent back the former. Yudhvir Singh cleaned up Kotian to take his match tally to seven wickets.
Even though the surface eased out as the day progressed, J&K lost opener Yawer Hassan for 24 with the total on 37, in its chase of 205. However, the seasoned Shubham Khajuria and Vivrant Sharma held fort and forged a 75-run partnership for the second wicket to set the tone.
With the pitch not offering any assistance to the bowlers, at one point, it looked like a cakewalk for J&K. However, Mumbai’s seasoned spinner Shams Mulani (4 for 54) spiced things up with quick wickets.
Khajuria’s attempt to step out backfired as Mulani rattled his stumps and in his next over, the spinner tempted Vivrant to go for a big hit. However, he was caught at long-on by Mohit Avasthi.
Instead of pressing the panic button, the J&K batters went on the counter-attacking mode, but the plan did not prove effective as the experienced Abdul Samad and captain Paras Dogra, fell to Mulani in quick succession due to poor selection of shots.
From being comfortably placed at 112 for 1, the visiting team found itself in a spot at 159 for 5. As the hundred-odd spectators cheered for Mumbai, Abid Mushtaq and wicketkeeper-batter Kanhaiya Wadhawan took things in their stride and ensured there weren’t any further slip-ups.
Mushtaq eased the pressure with a flurry of boundaries, while Wadhawan, too, chipped in with a couple of fours. With both looking comfortable, the Mumbai bowlers lost the grip and at the stroke of tea, Mushtaq sealed the deal with a six off Kotian as his teammates gave him a standing ovation.
The scores:
Mumbai — 1st innings: 120.
J&K — 1st innings: 206.
Mumbai — 2nd innings: Yashasvi Jaiswal c Hassan b Yudhvir 26, Rohit Sharma c Mushtaq b Yudhvir 28, Hardik Tamore b Nazir 1, Ajinkya Rahane c Dogra b Nazir 16, Shreyas Iyer c Wadhawan b Nabi 17, Shivam Dube c Samad b Nabi 0, Shams Mulani lbw b Nabi 4, Shardul Thakur c Mushtaq b Nabi 119, Tanush Kotian b Yudhvir 62, Mohit Avasthi run out 4, Karsh Kothari (not out) 1; Extras (b-6, lb-2, nb-2, wd-2) 12; Total (in 74 overs) 290.
Fall of wickets: 1-54, 2-55, 3-57, 4-86, 5-86, 6-91, 7-101, 8-285, 9-289.
J&K bowling: Nabi 24-6-80-4, Nazir 19-3-79-2, Yudhvir 15-1-64-3, Mushtaq 11-1-40-0, Vanshaj 3.2-0-13-0, Samad 1.4-0-6-0.
J&K — 2nd innings: Shubham Khajuria b Mulani 45, Yawer Hassan c Tamore b Avasthi 24, Vivrant Sharma c Avasthi b Mulani 38, Abdul Samad st Tamore b Mulani 24, Paras Dogra c Thakur b Mulani 15, Abid Mushtaq (not out) 32, Kanhaiya Wadhawan (not out) 19; Extras (b-5, lb-4, nb-1) 10; Total (for 5 wkts. in 49 overs) 207.
Fall of wickets: 1-37, 2-112, 3-123, 4-144, 5-159.
Mumbai bowling: Shardul 8-0-45-0, Avasthi 10-2-33-1, Mulani 15-1-54-4, Kothari 7-1-24-0, Kotian 9-1-42-0.
Player-of-the-Match: Yudhvir.
Published – January 25, 2025 06:18 pm IST
