Indore: Losing three wickets in quick succession had hurt Mumbai’s chances of getting to a lead in excess of 300 in the post-lunch session on Day Four of the Ranji Trophy 2016-17 final against Gujarat here at the Holkar Stadium in Indore. Skipper Aditya Tare, Balwinder Sandhu and Shardul Thakur all fell in the second session. However, Abhishek Nayar continued to hold fort. The three wickets pegged Mumbai back a bit just when they were looking set to comfortably take the lead past 300. When umpires called for tea, they were 361 for 8 with Nayar on 45 and Vishal Dabholkar on 9. Their lead is currently 261.
Mumbai were comfortably placed at 294 for 5 at lunch, with a lead of 194. Tare was going strong on 68 at that stage, with the ever-reliable Nayar for company. Gujarat needed quick wickets to keep their maiden title hopes alive, and their bowlers did not disappoint. Immediately after lunch, Tare was the first to be dismissed, for 69. He was trapped in front of the stumps by left-arm spinner Hardik Patel. It was an encore of his first-innings dismissal.
With the idea of having a stable partner for Nayar in the middle, the stable Sandhu was sent ahead of the aggressive Shardul. Sandhu batted with, adding 26 runs with Nayar for the seventh wicket before falling to a poor shot. Chintan Gaja bowled a full-length slower delivery outside off. Sandhu, going for a big shot, ended up skying the ball towards the cover region instead, where Manprit Juneja took a simple catch.
Sandhu’s dismissal was soon followed by Shardul’s. Living up to his reputation, Sandhu perished trying to go over the mid-off fielder. He became Gaja’s fifth victim, thus helping him get his maiden five-wicket haul in the third match of his career.
From 297 for 5, Mumbai were reduced to 326 for 8, effectively 226 for 8 in a Ranji final. The pitch had nothing in it for the bowlers barring the first hour of a chilly Indore when the seamers found some breeze. It was thus imperative for Mumbai to set a target of at least 300 to retain their title, for anything less than that could have been tricky.
Tare has called Nayar an ‘indispensable part’ of the team. He lived up to his captain’s words, holding one end up. He led his side’s recovery from a precarious situation. He kept the scorecard ticking and at the same time protected Dabholkar. Gujarat captain Parthiv Patel spread the field every time Nayar was on strike, offering him easy singles and getting the tail-ender on strike. However, Nayar was no tyro to fall in the trap and protected his partner well.
There are still four sessions left in the game, and with the kind of muscle Gujarat have in their batting line-up, a target less than that will probably not have be safe. But then again, if Mumbai leave it for too late, Gujarat will be happy to bat out time and win the final on first-innings lead.
The pair played out 95 balls before tea and added 35 runs in the unbroken stand for ninth wicket. Their effort has given Mumbai a slight advantage; even as they still need to add around another 50 before asking Gujarat to bat. Whatever the lead is in the end, it is going to test Gujarat, who will bat last in the summit clash.
Brief scores:
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Mumbai 228 and 361 for 8 (Shreyas Iyer 82, Aditya Tare 69, Suryakumar Yadav 49, Abhishek Nayar 45*; Chintan Gaja 5 for 98) lead Gujarat 328 by 261 runs.
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