Shardul Thakur has a natural outswinger for a right-handed batter, which keeps the slip cordon interested. But it is the one that nips back in or holds the line that becomes a dangerous delivery. Shardul was at his accurate best here at the Eden Gardens, and his probing spell on Tuesday helped Mumbai enter the Ranji Trophy semifinal after defeating Haryana by 152 runs.
The medium-pacer finished the quarterfinal with a match-haul of nine for 84 as Mumbai defended the 354-run target, bowling out Haryana for 201.
Shardul’s 10-over opening spell was spread across the pre- and post-lunch sessions, where he trapped Ankit Kumar and Himanshu Rana in front with nip-backers and induced an edge off Rohit Sharma to the first slip.
Support
He found support in left-arm quick Royston Dias, who claimed his maiden First Class five-for. While the duo maintained the fourth-stump line on a good length, a bouncer was a surprise element bowled without any protection in the deep. The bait worked when debutant Yashvardhan Dalal tried to pull Dias and got caught at square leg before cramping Nishant Sindhu down the leg.
At 60 for five, opener Lakshya Dalal and Sumit Kumar showed resilience and stitched a 90-run partnership. However, Lakshya’s needless attempt to ramp Tanush Kotian failed, triggering the final collapse in the last hour. Dias returned to remove Sumit and wrapped up the tail.
The day belonged to the bowlers from the start. Although Rahane reached his 41st First Class hundred, Haryana had more to celebrate.
Mumbai lost its remaining six wickets within an hour and 36 minutes into the first session, adding only 75 runs to its overnight total of 278 for four.
Anuj Thakral dismissed Rahane and Shivam Dube in back-to-back overs. Shams Mulani, Shardul, and Kotian’s cheap dismissals kept Mumbai’s score to 339, enough for the defending champion to come one step closer to a successive title.
The scores: Mumbai — 1st innings: 315.
Haryana — 1st innings: 301.
Mumbai — 2nd innings: Ayush Mhatre c (sub) Dheeru b Thakral 31, Akash Anand c (sub) Vats b Sumit 10, Siddhesh Lad c Rohit b Jayant 43, Ajinkya Rahane c Rohit b Thakral 108, Suryakumar Yadav c (sub) Amit b Thakral 70, Shivam Dube c Rohit b Thakral 48, Shams Mulani b Jayant 5, Shardul Thakur c Ankit b Kamboj 6, Tanush Kotian b Sumit 6, Mohit Avasthi c Jayant b Kamboj 1, Royston Dias (not out) 5; Extras (lb-5, w-1): 6; Total (in 85.3 overs): 339.
Fall of wickets: 1-34, 2-48, 3-100, 4-229, 5-314, 6-317, 7-321, 8-333, 9-333.
Haryana bowling: Kamboj 13.3-1-57-2, Sumit 16-3-65-2, Thakral 18-3-70-4, Sindhu 15-1-49-0, Jayant 17.5-0-69-2, Lakshya 5.1-1-24-0.
Haryana — 2nd innings: Lakshya Dalal c Rahane b Kotian 64, Ankit Kumar lbw b Shardul 11, Yashvardhan Dalal c Dube b Royston 3, Himanshu Rana lbw b Shardul 0, Nishant Sindhu c Akash b Royston 5, Rohit Sharma c Lad b Shardul 4, Sumit Kumar c Akash b Royston 62, Jayant Yadav c Suryakumar b Royston 27, Anshul Kamboj c Mulani b Royston 5, Anuj Thakral lbw b Kotian 1, Ajit Chahal (not out) 4; Extras (b-9, lb-4, nb-1, w-1): 15; Total (in 57.3 overs): 201.
Fall of wickets: 1-24, 2-41, 3-50, 4-55, 5-60, 6-150, 7-166, 8-172, 9-181.
Mumbai bowling: Shardul 10-3-26-3, Avasthi 9-0-53-0, Royston 10.3-2-39-5, Mulani 14-3-38-0, Dube 6-1-17-0, Kotian 8-1-15-2.
Published - February 11, 2025 07:13 pm IST
