Mumbai retain hold on Talim Shield

MUMBAI, Jan 10: Mumbai took their first step towards defending the Ranji Trophy when they retained the zonal champion status at the Wankhede...

MUMBAI, Jan 10: Mumbai took their first step towards defending the Ranji Trophy when they retained the zonal champion status at the Wankhede Stadium this afternoon. With their encounter against Saurashtra petering out to a draw on the concluding day today, Mumbai ended up garnering 24 points and top the zonal standings to maintain their grip on the Talim Shield.

Maharashtra and Vadodara followed the leader garnering 18 points each and claimed the remaining two berths for the Super League. Saurashtra and Gujarat landed at the cellar collecting 17 and three points respectively.

The concluding day’s proceedings of the season’s last zonal league match hadn’t much to offer by way of a result, thanks to Mumbai skipper Sanjay Manjrekar’s decision to bat again despite having the option of enforcing the follow-on yesterday. In the event, the Mumbai batsmen gained some valuable practice as they notched 290 for five in the second essay when Manjrekar applied closure.

Story continues below this ad

The 23-year-old Muzumdar made most of the opportunity compiling a patient 113 (177b, 251m, 6×4) besides being involved in a 126-run partnership with Manjrekar, who emerged the second best with 74 (123b, 160m, 6×4). Double centurion in the first innings, Vinod Kambli made a rapid 31 (37b, 2×4, 1×6) while Ajit Agarkar extended his string of good scores by making 43 (72b, 103m, 2×4).

Saurashtra, asked to do the impossible of making 443 runs in 16 overs for victory, seemed to succumb to the very enormity of the fact. They lost opener Sudhir Tanna (4) and Jayesh Motivaras (0) in six overs, before both captains decided to call off play.

Paras Mhambrey, who had claimed a five-wicket haul in the first innings, scalped both the Saurashtra wickets to emerge as the leading wicket-taker for Mumbai in the league this season. His tally at the conclusion of the league phase stands at 22 from four matches.

SCOREBOARD

Mumbai (1st innings): 538-5 decl
Saurashtra (1st innings): 386
Mumbai (2nd innings) (overnight 18-1): Wasim Jaffer c Parmar b Garsondia 0, Sanjay Manjrekar c Motivaras b Kotak 74, Amol Muzumdar c&b Kotak 113, Vinod Kambli c (sub) Odedara b Bambhania 31, Ajit Agarkar lbw Tanna 43, Sulakshan Kulkarni not out 22, Jatin Paranjpe not out 0; Extras: (b2, lb3, nb2) 7. Total (for 5 wkts declared in 77 overs) 290

Story continues below this ad

Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-127, 3-180, 4-246, 5-290
Bowling: Garsondia 11-2-33-1 (2nb), Rana 7-1-37-0, Bambhania 20-1-71-1, Parsana 13-0-51-0, Kotak 17-0-73-2, Tanna 9-2-20-1

Saurashtra (2nd innings): Sudhir Tanna c Kambli b Mhambrey 4, Jayesh Motivaras lbw Mhambrey 0, Sitanshu Kotak not out 2, Bimal Jadeja not out 1;

Extras: (nb2) 2. Total: (for 2 wkts in 6 overs; 33 minutes) 9
Fall of wickets: 1-4, 2-5
Bowling: Saxena 3-1-6-0, Mhambrey 3-1-3-2
Result: Drawn

MUMBAI, KARNATAKA IN SAME GROUP

Defending Champions Mumbai and former titlists Karnataka have alnded in the same pool for the Ranji Super League commencing from February 5. Both Mumbai and Karnataka will be in full strength till the first week of March when the first Test against Australia begins.

Following are the groupings with each team’s league placings in brackets: Group A: Mumbai (W1), Karnataka (S1), Punjab (N3), Orissa (E3), Railways (C2); Group B: Delhi (N1), Tamil Nadu (S2), Bengal (E1), Maharashtra (W3), Uttar Pradesh (C3); Group C: Madhya Pradesh (C1), Baroda (W2), Bihar (E2), Haryana (N2), Hyderabad (S3)

Following is Mumbai’s schedule

Story continues below this ad

Feb 5-8: vs Punjab at Mohali, Feb 14-17: vs Karnataka at Wankhede; March 4-7: vs Railways at Wankhede; Dates undecided: vs Orissa at Orissa.