Ranji wrap: Spin shines for Mumbai, Ankit ress for Haryana; familiar collapse for TN | Cricket News

Spinners give Mumbai an opening
After two frustrating sessions, Mumbai’s spinners Tanush Kotian and Shams Mulani brought them back into the contest against Haryana at the Eden Gardens. The two spinners who scored 97 and 91 respectively to rescue Mumbai with the bat, played their part with the ball as well at a critical juncture when Haryana seemed to be running away with the game. After shutting out Mumbai for 315 in the first session, skipper Ankit Kumar led from the front once again with the bat, scoring 136. The 27-year-old opener is known for his gritty knocks and on Sunday, he largely struck to it to carve out a century that deflated Mumbai attack.
Though none of his teammates so far have managed to convert the starts, he fought single-handedly to push Haryana closer to Mumbai’s total and beyond. At one stage, it appeared Haryana would easily go past Mumbai’s total but Kotian and Mulani struck crucial blows to take two wickets each. It meant at the end of Day 2, Haryana were placed at 263/5 with the first session set to be a crucial one for both teams.
Brief scores: Mumbai 315 (Tanush Kotian 97, Sams Mulani 91; Anshul Kamboj 3/71, Sumit Kumar 3/81) vs Haryana 263/5 (Ankit Kumar 136).
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Tamil Nadu top-order fails again
It feels like déjà vu all over again for Tamil Nadu. Green top, ball seaming around and their top-order showing once again they aren’t equipped to survive in those conditions. And as a result, Tamil Nadu are slowly losing their grip over their fixture against Vidarbha at Nagpur. Despite coming to bat only in the second session of Day 2, TN batsmen were exposed Vidarbha seamers with Aditya Thakare walking away at the end of the day with four scalps in his pocket. Off his first over he removed Mohamed Ali with a peach before getting their No 3, 4 and 5.
When N Jagadeesan departed for 22 after edging a delivery any good opener would have shouldered arms to, TN’s middle-order was exposed to the newball. B Sai Sudharsan perished going for a cut with the fielder at point taking a diving catch. Boopathi Kumar and Vijay Shankar paid the price for hanging their bat outside the off-stump. Only Andre Siddarth, shone bright, scoring a characteric 65 off 89 deliveries with 10 boundaries and two sixes as TN’s hopes of staying in the contest all but ended when they slid to 136/6 as they were placed 159/6 trailing Vidarbha 194 runs.
Earlier in the first session, overnight pair of Karun Nair and Harsh Dubey kept their partnership growing with help from TN fielders. Though Nair was dismissed for 122, Dubey’s dodgy effort of 69 runs that saw him cross 400 runs for the season to go with 50-plus wickets, took Vidarbha to 353.
Brief scores: Vidarbha 353 (Karun Nair 122, Harsh Dubey 69; Vijay Shankar 3/75, Sonu Yadav 3/91) vs Tamil Nadu 159/6 (Andre Siddarth 65; Aditya Thakare 4/18).Story continues below this ad
Gujarat in driver’s seat
At Rajkot, in their der clash against Saurashtra, it is Gujarat which is beginning to take control of the quarterfinal. After shutting the hosts to 216, their decision to bowl first was vindicated as Gujarat batsmen put up a fighting display to end Day 2 with a lead of 44 runs and 6 wickets in hand. But it wasn’t without drama. In the first session both their openers Aarya Desai (11) and Priyank Panchal (25) and the time Siddarth Desai was dismissed Gujarat were struggling at 78/3. Though he didn’t score big, Desai blunted the new ball consuming 92 deliveries. It meant Manan Hingrajia and Jaymeet Patel were able to build an innings, cutting down the risk.

With enough time in the bag, they went about their innings patiently with Hingrajia’s 83 coming off 219 deliveries before being dismissed Dharmendrasinh Jadeja. But Jaymeet (88*) was unmoved at the other end with wicketkeeper Urvil Patel providing good support. It meant, Gujarat overhauled Saurashtra’s total with ease. On Day 3, they will look to consolidate their position further, especially with Urvil around as he has the ability to take away the game in quick time. If they don’t strike early in the first session, Saurashtra could struggle to make their way back into the match.
Brief scores: Saurashtra 216 vs Gujarat 260/4 (Jaymeet Patel 88 batting, Manan Hingraji 83).