Mumbai vs Baroda Ranji Trophy QF: Solanki, Rawat slam tons, but Mumbai bag crucial 36-run first innings lead | Cricket News
In his pep talks inside a closed dressing room before the game, Baroda captain Vishnu Solanki had stressed the importance of playing the quarter-finals and what it means to be up against Mumbai in their backyard. In one line he tried to sum up the importance: “I told everyone in the dressing room that agar apni kabiliyat dikhani hai toh yeh match mein kuch karna padega.” Scoring against Mumbai meant showcasing true capability.
Baroda certainly came close to achieving this on the day at BKC grounds, and it looked like they would overhaul Mumbai’s first innings total of 384 when they started at 270/4. After all, overnight batsman Shaswat Rawat was looking dangerous and Solanki was choosing his strokes wisely.
The drooping shoulders of Mumbai fielders said it all as Rawat cruised to score a decent hundred, finishing with 124. Solanki was seen telling his young batsmen to hang on and not let this one get away after Rawat’s departure.
Baroda had earlier managed to post a crucial 174 run stand for the third wicket and their ship had steadied. Rawat, who had moved from Uttarakhand and pursued his cricketing career in Baroda, was scoring his first big runs against Mumbai.
Hard work pays off
All his hard work looked to be paying off – from renting a house in Vadodara, to trying to play junior cricket there. He had a good run this Ranji Trophy season and had come up with scores of 207, 105 and 93 before this game. Baroda was banking on him to pass this knock-out test.
On the third day, he resumed on 69 and looked solid in his stroke play. He was never in two minds while going for any shot. Mumbai though waited for one error from Rawat. And despite looking fluent, he went on to chase one wide ball, to hand over a straight sharp catch at first slip to Prithvi Shaw off Tushar Deshpande. Till then the two Baroda batsmen had been slowly taking the game away from Mumbai, as in the first session they managed to remain unbeaten.
Solanki later revealed how the partnership would have taken them to a safe zone. “The way our partnership was going, we thought we would take it further and we will get there,” he explained.
However, Mumbai bowlers didn’t let the plan succeed despite the captain standing firm on the other side for his 136. He lost partners at successive intervals.
None showed the grit and urge to hang around to ensure they supported Solanki, who had completed his ninth hundred of his first-class career. Baroda fell short 36 runs eventually with left-arm spinner Shams Mulani finishing with four for 121.
Solanki is still hopeful and he admits the team lost momentum once Rawat was out. He adds, “I had told everyone we will play with a straight bat and we can reach the total but we lost our momentum once we lost Rawat’s wicket. It’s a big game and we will fight tomorrow. There are still two days left and anything can happen.”
In reply, Mumbai had lost opener Bhupen Lalwani as left-arm spinner Bhargav Bhatt got him in the slips. At stumps, Mumbai were 21 for 1 with Hardik Tamore and Mohit Avasthi batting on 12 and 3 respectively and the team lead stretching to 57 runs. For Mumbai, the first session on the fourth day will certainly be challenging and they will look to play out safe.
Brief Scores: Mumbai 384 & 21 for 1 vs Baroda 348 (Vishnu Solanki 136, Shaswat Rawat 124, Shams Mulani 4 for 121).
