Mumbai dished out a clinical performance to maul Kerala by eight wickets in their Elite Group A match of the Vijay Hazare Trophy in Bengaluru on Monday.
Despite this win in the 50-over tournament, Mumbai’s chances of making the play-offs appear bleak as they are at the sixth position in the Group.
After bundling Kerala out for a modest 199, courtesy three wickets each by pacers Dhawal Kulkarni (3/54) and Shardul Thakur (3/40), Mumbai comfortably chased the target with 11.4 overs to spare with young prodigy Yashasvi Jaiswal (122) slamming a century.
For Kerala, only captain Robin Uthappa (43) and tailender Nidheesh (40) could make some impact with the bat.
Mumbai bowlers did not allow the opposition batsmen to settle and took wickets at regular interval at the Just Cricket ground.
The chase was a walk in the park for Mumbai as their openers Jaiswal and Aditya Tare (67) put on 195 runs for the first wicket to guide the team to an easy victory.
Jaiswal hammered 14 fours and three sixes, while Tare hit five boundaries and a lone six as the duo took the game away from the opposition. Kerala got two wickets, but a win remained a mere formality which Mumbai completed in 38.2 overs.
In a separate match curtailed due to a wet outfield, Chhattisgarh defeated Hyderabad by 24 runs, while Saurashtra beat Goa by five wickets in another shortened encounter.
Brief scores: Mumbai 202/2 in 38.2 overs (Yashavi Jaiswal 122, Aditya Tare 67; Vishnu Vinod 2/16) beat Kerala 199 all out in 48.4 overs (Robin Uthappa 43, Nidheesh 40; Shardul Thakur 3/40) by 8 wickets