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Mumbai's veteran batters Ajinkya Rahane and Shreyas Iyer failed again before Shardul Thakur rescued them from a collapse to help them post a respectable score of 224 in the Ranji Trophy 2023-24 final at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. Thakur then teamed up with Dhawal Kulkarni to help Mumbai make a comeback by reducing Vidarbha to 31/3 at the end of Day 1's play
Decent start
After winning the toss, Vidarbha skipper Akshay Wadkar won the toss and opted to field first. The decision did not work in Mumbai's favour at first. Umesh Yadav struggled with the new ball and Prithvi Shaw looked for boundaries. Openers Shaw and Bhupen Lalwani shared an 81-run partnership before Yash Thakur broke the partnership. Lalwani edged one to the wicketkeeper after scoring 37 runs from 64 balls. The left-arm spinner Harsh Dubey prevented Shaw from scoring a half-century. He got bowled for a 63-ball 46.
The collapse
Teenager Musheer Khan could not continue his form and got out lbw to Dubey as he played across the line. Iyer's troubles with the short ball continued. Yadav exploited it and the catch went to slip fielder Karun Nair. Hardik Tamore fell for a single-digit score as well. He became Aditya Thakare's only victim of the day. Rahane was too cautious and could not score big in the final. He became Dubey's third scalp of the day. From 81 for no loss, Mumbai were 111/6.
Thakur’s fightback
Thakur and Shams Mulani tried to stitch a partnership. The fast-bowling all-rounder looked for boundaries. But Mulani missed the price for playing the flick and missing the fuller delivery. He got out lbw to Yash. Thakur continued the onslaught and it did not stop with Yash dismissing Tanush Kotian either. He reached his half-century from just 37 balls.
After the tea break, Tushar Deshpande suffered an unfortunate dismissal as he got run out at non-striker end by a deflection off Yadav's right foot. In his next over, Yadav ended Thakur's fightback. He lost his wicket after scoring 75 runs from 69 balls including eight fours and three sixes. Mumbai were bowled out for 224 in 64.3 overs.
Mumbai back in game
After his heroics with the bat, Shardul made an impact with the new ball as well. Dhruv Shorey was dismissed for a three-ball duck after the review went Mumbai's way. Shardul would have had another if he could not take Atharva Taide's catch on follow-through. In the next over, Dhawal Kulkarni got rid of Aman Mokhade. A few overs later, Kulkarni got the prized wicket of Nair. He got out for a 12-ball duck. Vidarbha were 31/3 at the end of the day's play with Taide batting on 21 from 46 deliveries. The trail is still 193 runs.
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