AFTER bundling out Mumbai for a below par first innings score in their Ranji Trophy final, Vidarbha failed to capitalise losing three top wickets by end of opening day at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday. Vidarbha bowlers did a great job to outsmart Mumbai batters who could manage just 224 but the visitors also lost three quick wickets and were reeling at 31-3 trailing by another 193 runs. In-form opener Atharva Taide (21*; 46b, 2x4) and night-watchman Aditya Thakare (0*; 4b) were at the crease. Mumbai skipper Ajinkya Rahane and Shreyas Iyer’s run drought continued but Shardul Thakur’s all-rounder utility helped hosts claw their way back against a gutsy Vidarbha. After scoring 75 from 69 balls to give Mumbai’s score some semblance of respectability, Thakur also dismissed veteran opener Dhruv Shorey (0; 3b) with an angular delivery which got him a favourable DRS result. Playing his last First-Class game, medium pacer Dhawal Kulkarni bowled his customary late outswingers which had Aman Mokhade (8; 15b, 2x4) and Test triple centurion Karun Nair (0; 12b) nicking it to Hardik Tamore behind stumps.

 

Earlier, Rahane and Iyer were dismissed for identical scores of 7 in a shocking collapse that saw the 41-time champions slipping from 81-0 to 111-6 on either side of the lunch break. The slump began when pacer Yash Thakur found an outside edge off opener Bhupen Lalwani’s (37) bat to have Vidarbha skipper Akshay Wadkar taking a superb one-handed grab diving to his right. Lalwani had done well to put on an impressive 81-run stand for the opening wicket with the burly Prithvi Shaw (46). With spin being introduced as early as in the ninth over, Shaw went for the sweep quite a few times but never really executed it well. On one such occasion he missed connecting one from left-arm spinner Harsh Dubey (3-62) on the middle stump completely as the ball turned away to hit the off.

 

India U-19 star Musheer Khan (6) carried his World Cup form into knock-out rounds but on the day, an indiscreet flick-shot off a Dubey arm ball caught him plumb in front. India pacer Umesh Yadav (2-43 in 13.3 overs), with 170 Test victims got the prized scalp of Iyer to compound Mumbai’s problems. Expecting a short ball, Iyer remained rooted to the crease and in double mind as the ball bounced more than he anticipated. With no footwork, Iyer went on a fishing expedition and the resultant catch was taken by Karun in the slips. Having lost six wickets for a mere 40 runs, Mumbai also went through a phase in which no boundary was hit for as many as 18 overs. But Thakur hit a few fours to put the pressure back on Vidarbha. Thakur was the last batter dismissed, caught by the man at deep square leg after hitting eight fours and three sixes. The troika of Tanush Kotian (8), Tushar Deshpande (14) and Shams Mulani (13), which bailed Mumbai on numerous occasions with useful runs also fell cheaply.