An overcast Wednesday with a cold breeze and vehicles crawling through clogged roads, all typical Bengaluru traits, also ushered in slow-burn cricket at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium. And in typical dogged fashion, Mumbai, after opting to bat against Madhya Pradesh, scored 248 for five at close on the opening day of the Ranji Trophy final.
Prithvi Shaw (47) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (78) did the hard yards upfront, and Sarfaraz Khan (40 batting) held firm while the birds returned to roost at the nearby Cubbon Park. Mumbai’s steady runs and Madhya Pradesh’s persistence through a four-man attack constituted the day’s overwhelming flavour.
Opening gambit
In the morning, after Mumbai skipper Shaw elected to bat, his counterpart Aditya Shrivastava commenced the attack with left-arm spinner Kumar Kartikeya replicating his opening gambit from the semifinal against Bengal. Shaw nudged a single, Jaiswal lunged forward to unsettle the spinner and the first over went for five runs.
Through the first session the duo kept the scoreboard ticking while also surviving a near run-out, muffled leg-before-wicket appeals and play-and-miss routines. Seamer Anubhav Agarwal bowled the second over, and while there was some movement on offer, Shaw flicked a four. Shrivastava employed his bowlers in short spells, favouring the spin and pace trope while the odd sledging was also on view. The spectators had some constant action to savour and feeble ‘RCB’ chants too surfaced.
Shaw briefly struggled against seamer Gaurav Yadav in an over that had a surgeon’s precision coated with a seductive lure outside the off-stump. Southpaw Jaiswal square-drove a silken four off off-spinner Saransh Jain and Shaw joined the party, hoisting a six, followed by a back-foot punch for four against Kartikeya.
But Madhya Pradesh never allowed the openers to feel completely at home despite their 87-run association. Shaw played all over an Agarwal delivery, the timber rattled and, later at lunch, Mumbai had 105 for one.
Flattering to deceive
After the break, while Jaiswal continued unhindered, two successive partners — Armaan Jaffer and Suved Parkar — flattered to deceive. Jaffer lobbed one off Kartikeya and Parkar, tentative against Jain, kept the close-in circle happy. But, with Sarfaraz joining him in the middle, Jaiswal slashed a four off Yadav. However, against the run of play, Jaiswal’s attempted drive off Agarwal proved fatal.
Sarfaraz then coped with an lbw appeal and found company in Hardik Tamore and Shams Mulani. Ironically once stumps were drawn, the sun finally peeped out as another day of attrition awaits the rivals.
The scores:
Mumbai — 1st innings: Prithvi Shaw b Agarwal 47 (79b, 5x4, 1x6), Yashasvi Jaiswal c Yash Dubey b Agarwal 78 (163b, 7x4, 1x6), Armaan Jaffer c Yash Dubey b Kartikeya 26 (56b, 3x4), Suved Parkar c Aditya Shrivastava b Jain 18 (30b, 2x4), Sarfaraz Khan (batting) 40 (125b, 3x4), Hardik Tamore c Rajat Patidar b Jain 24 (44b, 3x4), Shams Mulani (batting) 12 (43b, 1x4); Extras (b-1, lb-1, w-1): 3; Total (for five wkts. in 90 overs): 248.
Fall of wickets: 1-87 (Shaw, 27.4 overs), 2-120 (Armaan, 40.6), 3-147 (Parkar, 50.1), 4-185 (Jaiswal, 59.4), 5-228 (Tamore, 74.5).
Madhya Pradesh bowing: Kumar Kartikeya 31-6-91-1, Anubhav Agarwal 19-3-56-2, Saransh Jain 17-2-31-2, Gaurav Yadav 23-5-68-0.
Toss: Mumbai.
