Keeper-bat's timely ton firms up Mumbai's semis chance; Bhatt grabs another 7-for
MUMBAI: When Mumbai crashed out at the league stage of the Ranji Trophy last season, one of the players left nervous about their career was Hardik Tamore.
After he managed to score just 36 runs in four matches@7.20, the keeper-bat, who had scored a hundred against Uttar Pradesh in the 2022 Ranji Trophy semifinal at Bengaluru, was dropped. To make it worse, his replacement, Prasad Pawar, scored 171 runs in three matches, including a century (145) against Maharashtra in the last match of the season.
The 26-year-old's comeback this season wasn't great either, as he got out for scores of 19, 5 & 0 and 22 in the Ranji Trophy. However, in the quarterfinal against Baroda at the MCA's ground in BKC, Tamore turned out to be Mumbai's 'Rock of Gibraltar.'
Following up on his patient half-century (57 not out) in the first innings, the lad who hails from Chinchani, a coastal hamlet in Palghar district, slammed his third First-Class century (114, 233b, 10x4) after being suddenly asked to open in the second innings due to a finger injury to Prithvi Shaw. Thanks to Tamore's timely ton, Shaw's stroke-filled 87 (93b, 10x4, 2x6) and Shams Mulani's 15th First-Class fifty (54, 103b, 8x4, 1x6), Mumbai coasted to 379 for nine at stumps on Day 4. The only blip in Mumbai's fine show was their captain Ajinkya Rahane's wretched run as he was bowled by left-arm spinner Bhargav Bhatt for a four-ball duck. In six Ranji matches this season, Rahane has managed to score just 115 runs@12.77.
With a 415-run lead in the bank going into Day Five, Mumbai have almost guaranteed themselves a date with Tamil Nadu in the Ranji Trophy semifinal at BKC from March 2. Towards the end, Mumbai's 10th wicket pair of Tanush Kotian (32 batting) and Tushar Deshpande (23 batting) frustrated Baroda further with an unbeaten 42-run stand in 60 balls. Bowling another tireless spell, the experienced Bhatt took his second seven wicket haul of the match (7-142 in 42 overs), but his brilliant effort of 14 for 254 after slogging for 84.2 overs is likely to go down in vain.
Despite his latest heroics, Tamore wasn't willing to believe that he had sealed his spot in the Mumbai XI. "In the Mumbai team, your spot is never fixed. If you have one or two bad matches, then you can (get dropped). This is just the start. I don't want to lose my tempo now," Tamore said. The youngster now wants to be a part of Mumbai's latest Ranji-winning side.
After he put on 66 in 85 balls for the third wicket with first innings double centurion Musheer Khan (33, 25b, 8x4, 1x6), Tamore added 124 in 157 balls with Shaw for the fourth wicket which made sure Mumbai's innings didn't collapse. "I told him (Rahane): 'Sir, I've been opening since I was playing age group cricket for Mumbai, so I'm used to it. I like batting in the top three. Don't worry, I'll open'," Tamore said.
BRIEF SCORES: Mumbai 384 & 379/9 in 102 overs (Hardik Tamore 114, Prithvi Shaw 87, Shams Mulani 54; Bhargav Bhatt 7/142) vs Baroda 348; Vidarbha 460 & 196 in 57.2 overs (Dhruv Shorey 57, Karun Nair 34; Vidwath Kaverappa 6/61, Vysakh Vijayakumar 4/81) vs Karnataka 286 & 103/1 in 26 overs (Mayank Agarwal 61 batting, R Samarth 40); Madhya Pradesh 234 & 107 beat Andhra 172 & 165 in 69.2 overs (Hanuma Vihari 55; Anubhav Agarwal 6/52) by 4 runs
