Mumbai wrapped up its second outright Ranji Trophy win on Wednesday in less than an hour, earning another bonus point in the Group D clash against Pondicherry. Starting the day at 231 for six, Pondicherry added only 45 more runs before Rajasthan Royals speedster Tushar Deshpande and Shardul Thakur finished the job, giving Mumbai an innings-and-222-run victory.
Deshpande picked up Sidhaant's wicket
With a slight morning chill at the Wankhede Stadium, Deshpande used the conditions perfectly. In his first over of the day, he dismissed Sidhaant Aadhhatrao, who had scored his first First-Class fifty on day 3 of the clash. Sidhaant managed only three more runs before Sarfaraz Khan caught him at second slip.
Sarfaraz Khan picked three crucial catches
Deshpande struck again in his next over. Pondicherry captain Sagar Udeshi tried to score quickly on a surface he knew well, but it lasted just one run before Sarfaraz ran back from the ring to take the catch near third man. Shardul then added to Pondicherry’s problems by bowling Sabhay Chadha. With the senior batters gone, Jayant Yadav tried to hold the innings together. He hit five boundaries and resisted for a while but eventually fell to Ayush Mhatre, with Sarfaraz taking his third catch of the morning, this time at first slip.
There had been some hope of a fightback after Aman Khan and Sidhaant had steadied things late on the third day, but the lower order could not stay long. Deshpande’s accurate stump-to-stump bowling quickly ended the innings within 8.3 overs.
Mumbai, coming off a bonus-point win against Himachal Pradesh, wanted to finish the first leg strongly. After this dominating win against Pondicherry, Mumbai sealed their berth at the top of the points table.
Brief scores
Mumbai 1st innings: 630 for 5 declared.
Pondicherry 1st innings: 132.
Pondicherry 2nd innings: Neyan Kangayan lbw b Kotian 42, Ajay Rohera c Sarfaraz b Deshpande 0, Paras Ratnaparkhe c Akash b Shardul 1, Mohit Kale c (sub) Patil b Mulani 35, Anand Singh Bais c Deshpande b Mulani 8, Sidhaant Aadhhatrao c Sarfaraz b Deshpande 54, Aman Khan b Musheer 86, Jayant Yadav c Sarfaraz b Mhatre 32, Sagar Udeshi c Sarfaraz b Deshpande 1, Sabhay Chadha b Shardul 4, Abin Mathew not out 4; Extras: lb 5, b 4; Total: 276 in 53.3 overs.
Fall of wickets: 1-2, 3-2, 3-69, 4-85, 5-91, 6-228, 7-236, 8-248, 9-253.
Mumbai bowling: Shardul 8-0-24-2, Deshpande 7-1-32-3, Avasthi 6-0-29-0, Mulani 17-3-67-2, Kotian 10-1-70-1, Musheer 4-0-36-1, Mhatre 1.3-0-9-1.