Rookie stops Mumbai’s flow in Raipur

Chhattisgarh pacer Ashish Chouhan with the ball on which he has marked the match details

It took a rookie pacer, playing in just his second first-class game, to bring Chhattisgarh back against Mumbai in Raipur on Saturday. Ashish Chouhan's 6-105 in the Elite Group ‘B' Ranji encounter, restricted Mumbai to 351 after the 41-time Ranji Trophy champions ended Day One at 310-4.

The morning of Day Two was gloomy for the Ajinkya Rahane-led Mumbai team as they lost their last six wickets inside 16 overs for a mere 41 runs. Chouhan, 25, who claimed fifer in his debut game against Kerala last week, got good support from fellow pacer Ravi Kiran (3-53).

"It's a dream-come-true moment for me. I wanted to carry forward the confidence gained from my last game and was determined to do well against a big team like Mumbai. I was thinking about dismissing India players like Prithvi Shaw, Rahane and Shardul Thakur," Chouhan told mid-day on Saturday.

The wicket of Rahane - clean bowled for one on Friday - gave the right-arm pacer the biggest thrill. "It was a great feeling to get Mumbai's top six batsmen. Ajinkya's was a dream wicket. I was getting some reverse swing, so I just bowled on target and got him with an in-swinger. And today [Saturday] I got my fifth wicket when Shardul tried to pull me. I have watched both of them on TV and suddenly I play against them and get them out, so it's special," he remarked.

Chhattisgarh ended the day with a respectable 180-4 with opener Shashank Chandrakar scoring 56. Skipper Amandeep Khare (35) and wicketkeeper-batsman Eknath Kerkar (6), an erstwhile Mumbai player, were at the crease when stumps were drawn. Mumbai pacers Royston Dias and Tushar Deshpande and spinners Shams Mulani and Tanush Kotian claimed one wicket apiece.

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Bowlers hand Karnataka advantage over Tamil Nadu

Karnataka bowlers rose to the occasion to reduce Tamil Nadu to 129-7 after Devdutt Padikkal's superb 151 to take the visitors to a commanding position at stumps on the Day Two of their Ranji Trophy Group ‘C' match here on Saturday. Karnataka bowlers equally responded to their batting colleagues, picking up wickets at regular intervals to reduce their southern opponents to 129 for seven. Off-spinner L Sashi Kumar (3-41) picked up three wickets, while Hardik Raj (2-47) chipped in with two scalps.

Padikkal, who continued his red-hot form, scored 151 off 218 balls with the help of 12 boundaries and six maximums, his third Ranji Trophy hundred this season, but failed to add on to his overnight score after being dismissed in the second ball of the day. Resuming at the overnight score of 288-5, Hardik (51) completed his maiden fifty, while wicketkeeper Srinivas Sharath made 45 with the last five Karnataka batters adding just 78 runs to be bowled out for 366.

Brief scores
Mumbai 351 (P Shaw 159, B Lalwani 102; A Chouhan 6-105, R Kiran 3-53) v Chhattisgarh 180-4 (S Chandrakar 56, A Khare 35')