Published: Feb 19, 2015, 10:35 PM (IST)
Edited: Feb 19, 2015, 10:35 PM (IST)
Cuttack: Mumbai pace spearhead Shardul Thakur once again struck early to leave Delhi in tatters at 110 for four in their 440-run chase on Day Four of the Ranji Trophy 2014-15 quarter-finals at Cuttack on Thursday.
After opener Akhil Hedwarkar’s 161-run marathon knock, which took Mumbai to 450 in the second innings, the Aditya Tare-led side tore into the Delhi top-order with Shardul, who had bagged five wickets in the first innings, picking up two scalps till now.
Resuming on their overnight score of 367 for seven, Mumbai were helped with hard-working partnership’s in the end as Shardul (20)and Harmeet Singh (30) contributed with valuable knocks.
Left-arm spinner Manan Sharma was the most impressive Delhi bowler with 4 wickets in his 30 overs with an economy rate of 3.06. But Mumbai’s Shardul has certainly been the bowler of the 5-day game so far as the pacer trapped skipper Gautam Gambhir (34) lbw and then scalped Mithun Manhas for a duck.
Medium-pacer Wilkin Mota also chipped in with two wickets to clean up Unmukt Chand (31) and send Shivam Sharma back in the hut for nought. Rajat Bhatia (25 not out) and Manan Sharma (14 not out) were fighting on when stumps were called.
Brief scores:
Mumbai 156 and 450 (Akhil Herwadkar 161; Shreyas Iyer 82; Manan Sharma 4 for 92) lead Delhi 166 and 110 for four (Gautam Gambhir 34, Rajat Bhatia 25*; Shardul Thakur 2 for 43) by 331 runs.
