Pacer Shardul (4-47), Tushar (4-53) claim eight wickets between them to bowl out Chhattisgarh for 149 and put hosts on brink of an outright win on Day Two
Mumbai pacer Shardul Thakur (second from right) celebrates a Chhattisgarh wicket with teammates during their Ranji Trophy match at Wankhede Stadium, Churchgate yesterday Mumbai are already out of the national championships. Pic/PTI
Mumbai are just 14 runs away from their maiden outright win of the season, thanks to pacers Shardul Thakur (4-47) and Tushar Deshpande (4-53). The hosts bundled out Chhattisgarh for 149 in the second innings on Day Two of the Ranji Trophy Elite Group A game at Wankhede Stadium yesterday.
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Chasing a target of 91, the hosts were 77 without loss at stumps. Jay Bista and Vikrant Auti were unbeaten on 36 and 32 respectively. Wankhede's green top witnessed the fall of 17 wickets - all claimed by the pacers of both teams. Resuming on the overnight score of 118 for three, none of the Mumbai batsmen appeared determined to play a long innings.
Suryakumar Yadav managed to add 12 runs to his overnight score of 31, perishing in the third over of the morning, after facing 10 deliveries. Later, Thakur and Deshpande, who together dismissed nine batsmen in the first innings, once again shattered the visitors' hopes by claiming eight wickets.
Thakur struck first by clean-bowling opener Abhimanyu Chauhan (5). One-drop batsman Ashutosh Singh and skipper Harpreet Singh also failed to tackle Thakur's swing; both were caught behind.
Though Vishal Singh (47 off 22) hammered Deshpande in his initial overs, the bowler made a strong comeback by claiming four wickets. Deshpande, who claimed a fifer on Day One, was lofted for a six over long-on by Vishal off his first ball.
The next delivery - a short-pitched one - was hit to the fence between mid-wicket and square-leg. Vishal pulled the fourth ball through mid-wicket. Vishal hit Deshpande's first ball of his next over for a huge six and the fourth ball resulted in a cracking boundary through point. Skipper Dhawal Kulkarni had to replace Deshpande after he conceded 34 runs in two overs.
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