26 December,2016 06:25 PM IST | | Agencies
Left-arm spinner Vijay Gohil registered his best first-class bowling figures to put defending champions Mumbai in firm control against Hyderabad in the quarterfinal of the Ranji Trophy tournament
Aditya Tare
Raipur: Left-arm spinner Vijay Gohil registered his best first-class bowling figures to put defending champions Mumbai in firm control against Hyderabad in the quarterfinal of the Ranji Trophy cricket tournament, here on Monday.
Gohil picked up five wickets giving away just 28 runs from his 10 overs to reduce Hyderabad to 121 for seven while chasing a gettable 232 runs for an outright win at stumps on the fourth and penultimate day of the match.
Besides Gohil, Abhishek Nayar (2/27) picked up two wickets for the 41-time winners.
Chasing a gettable target, Hyderabad put up a shoddy batting effort in their second innings with just four willow-wielders -- Balchander Anirudh (40 not out), Tanmay Agarwal (29), Bavanaka Sandeep (25) and Kolla Sumanth (14) -- managing double digit scores.
While nothing is impossible in cricket, still it will be a Herculean task for Hyderabad to score an outright win as they need 111 more runs on the fifth and final day of the match with just three wickets in hand.
The onus is now on Anirudh to take his side past the finishing line but for that to happen he will need able support from his tailenders.
Earlier, resuming their second innings at the overnight score of 102 for three, Mumbai were bowled out for 217 in 83.2 overs. Overnight batsman and skipper Aditya Tare (57) completed his half-century while Siddhesh Lad made a patient 47.
For Hyderabad, medium-pacer Mohammed Siraj turned out to be the pick of the bowlers with figures of five for 52, while Chama Milind (2/25) and Akash Bhandari (2/55) shared four wickets between them.
Brief Scores: Mumbai: 294 & 217 all out in 83.2 overs (Aditya Tare 57; Mohammed Siraj 5/55). Hyderabad: 280 & 121 for seven in 42 overs (Balachander Anirudh 40 not out; Vijay Gohil 5/28).
