Mumbai’s Atharva Ankolekar shines with maiden fifer

Mumbai U-25 left-arm spinner Atharva Ankolekar at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Stadium in Valsad yesterday

Mumbai's U-25 skipper and left-arm spinner Atharva Ankolekar (5-55) led from the front to bowl out Gujarat U-25 for 199 on the opening day of the CK Nayudu Trophy final in Valsad on Sunday. However, the Mumbai batsmen had a tough day as they lost half their side for 81 at stumps.

Batting first at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Stadium, Gujarat lost their opener L Kocher (1) early. But Urvil Patel (43) and one-drop Aarya Desai (34) batted attackingly to stitch a 65-run stand in just 74 balls. Ankolekar, who broke the partnership and claimed his first fifer of the season, is confident of the team's good show in the remaining days.

"I had a couple of four-wicket hauls in this tournament and felt good to take the first fifer today [Sunday]. I just bowled to my strength and got good support from my teammates. I am delighted with my bowling performance, but I am not satisfied with it. Apart from my bowling effort, my team are expecting an all-round performance from me. So, I need to score runs as well," Ankolekar told mid-day from Valsad.

Gujarat's No.10 batsman Jay Malusare (50) gave the Mumbai bowlers a headache, but finally Ankolekar dismissed him through long-off fielder Angkrish Raghuvanshi. Left-arm spinner Musheer Khan and pacer Sylvester D'Souza claimed three and two wickets respectively.

Also read: Mumbai on verge of CK Nayudu glory

Mumbai openers Raghuvanshi (29) and Musheer (22) began well on a challenging pitch, but failed to capitalise on a good start. The visitors also lost one-drop batsman Bhupen Lalwani (15), Vedant Murkar (4) and night-watchman D'Souza (0) early. Now it's up to Pragnesh Kanpillewar (10 not out) and all-rounder Tanush Kotian (1 not out) to get a solid start on the second day today [Monday].

"We still have five wickets in hand and I am sure we will bat well. We bowled well to restrict them inside 200 and I am confident that we will keep performing like this to win the final," remarked Ankolekar, who scored 214 against Hyderabad while batting at No.7 in a league game in January.