Pegged back by triple strike from seasoned left-arm spinner Bhargav Bhatt (three for 43 in 17 overs), which included dismissing India batsman Shreyas Iyer for an eight-ball duck, Mumbai were placed delicately at 163 for five while replying to Baroda’s 290 at tea on Day Two of their Elite Group A Ranji Trophy match at the Kotambi International Cricket Stadium in Vadodara on Saturday.
Extracting vicious turn from the pitch, Bhatt – who had claimed 14 wickets (7-112 & 7-200) in the Ranji Trophy quarter-final against Mumbai at the Mumbai Cricket Association’s ground in BKC last season – again damaged the same opponents, scalped two well-set batsmen in 17-year-old Ayush Mhatre (52, 71b, 5×4, 1×6), who scored a fine half-century on his Ranji Trophy debut, skipper Ajinkya Rahane (40, 60b, 2×4, 1×6) and Iyer, usually a good player of spin bowling.
Mhatre would be kicking himself after succumbing to a poor shot immediately after celebrating his fifty post lunch, miscuing a pull shot off a short one from Bhatt only for the bowler to take a few steps back and pocket the skier. Rahane was slightly unlucky, smashing a ball straight to Jyotsnil Singh at silly point, who pulled off a stunner, somehow holding onto the ball. Iyer fell a peach of a delivery by Bhatt which spun sharply, kissing the edge of the bat on way to the keeper.
In a surprising decision, Mumbai chose to send ‘keeper-batter Hardik Tamore, who had scored a hundred while opening the innings in place of an injured Prthvi Shaw in the Ranji quarters last season, to bat at No 3 slot, before the likes of Rahane, Iyer and Siddhesh Lad, who is playing his first match for Mumbai in five years.
However, justifying the decision to some extent, Tamore looked good till he got to 40 (60b, 2×4, 1×6), adding 63 in just 70 balls for the second wicket with Mhatre and 57 in 84 balls for the third wicket with Rahane before he was caught superbly by a diving Jyotsnil off Bhatt. Both Tamore and Rahane had looked impressive during their partnership, playing with positive intent.
At tea, Mumbai’s hopes for wrestling a first innings lead from Baroda rested on Siddhesh Lad (batting on 3), playing his first game for Mumbai in five years, and Shams Mulani (batting on 16, 27b, 2×4). Ironically, a few years back, it was Lad who was known as ‘Mr Crisis’ for Mumbai, pulling them out of the woods several times, before that title was passed on to Mulani, who has rallied Mumbai with the bat many times in the last three seasons.
Earlier, they lost Prithvi Shaw’s (7 off 27 balls) early in the piece, but with teenaged opener Ayush Mhatre batting confidently on 38 (56b, 5×4), Mumbai reached 63 for one at lunch. In a rare, first-of-its kind instance which shows how deeply cricket has spread in the suburbs of the city, Mumbai had two batsmen from Virar opening the innings for them – Shaw and Mhatre, who looks to be a promising prospect.
On a turning wicket where the ball has been spinning viciously from the first session of the match itself, Baroda, in another rare case, chose to open the bowling with two left-arm spinners – skipper Krunal Pandya and Bhatt. The hosts introduced their left-arm seamer, Akash Singh, as late as the 45th over.
Pandya drew first blood for Baroda when, in the ninth over, he castled Shaw – who had scored a blazing double century on his last trip to Vadodara five years back – neck and crop with a beauty – a fuller arm ball that sneaked in between the bat and pad, dislodging the middle and leg stump.
However, Mhatre looked composed while negotiating the seasoned Bhatt and the other spinners on a wicket where batting isn’t easy. Soon after he was beaten by a sharply turning Pandya delivery which ricocheted off the ‘keeper’s gloves and flew over the slip’s head, he unleashed an aerial drive past mid-on for four off the bowler. He steered seam bowling allrounder Atit Sheth down to the third man region for a couple of fours in the 12th over, and then took two fours off Bhatt in the last over (17th of the innings) before lunch – putting away a long hop and then lofting the bowler over cover.
Playing only his second first-class match, young seamer Raj Limbani, and off-spinner Mahesh Pithiya bowled an over each. After playing for the India Under-19 team in the U-19 World Cup in South Africa earlier this year, Limbani had made his debut in the Ranji quarters last season against Mumbai, but returned figures of 1-119 in that match.
Pithiya had come into the limelight last year when the Australian team called him for their pre-tour camp in Bengaluru last year as his action resembled that of veteran India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin.
Mumbai took the remaining four Baroda wickets for 49 runs, with spinners Tanush Kotian (4-71 in 24.1 overs) and Shams Mulani (3-111 in 37 overs) finishing with seven wickets for 182 runs between themselves. Sheth (66, 154b, 3×4) was trapped lbw while trying to defend a full ball from Shams Mulani, while Pithiya (4) was dismissed in the same fashion by Shardul Thakur. Kotian scalped out Limbani (30, 76b, 2×4) and No 11 Akash Singh-caught superbly by Rahane (he had taken a blinder on Day 1 too) at slip.
For a team which was reduced to 90 for five at lunch on Day One, Baroda would’ve been happy to finish with 290.