Munaf makes it possible for Rest of India

It proved to be an open and shut case for Rest of India today. For Ranji champions Mumbai, who had a rousing start...

It proved to be an open and shut case for Rest of India today. For Ranji champions Mumbai, who had a rousing start to the Irani Trophy on Day One, the end came with more than five sessions to go.

Munaf Patel’s five-wicket haul saw Mumbai go from 98/6 to 106 all out in the space of just 15 balls. And later, Parthiv Patel’s 59 not out from 48 balls meant Rest of India crossed the winning target of 88 with still half an hour to go for the lunch table to be ready. The Patel rap was too much for Mumbai in this season opener as Rest of India recorded a nine-wicket win to retain the Irani Trophy.

Despite the fact that the second innings target was quite modest, Parthiv didn’t take things lightly. Like in the first innings where he scored 177, in the second innings too he was unstoppable as he kept attacking Mumbai bowlers. He slammed three boundaries in one Ajit Agarkar over—six out of his 10 boundary hits were off Agarkar’s bowling.

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Rest of India skipper Mohammad Kaif gave due credit to the two performing Patels. “They played really well in this game. The way Parthiv batted it is easy to say that he is in good form. We are happy to see Munaf getting his rhythm back. We made some plans for the second innings after Mumbai played well in the first. And that worked for us,” said Kaif. Ask him about his own form and he adds, “I am timing the ball well.”

Earlier, in the day, Mumbai resumed their innings on 98/6, hoping Wasim Jaffer (21 not out overnight) and Ajit Agarkar would rescue them. However, Munaf’s sensational bowling continued on Day Four too. After he was hit by Jaffer for four, Munaf came back strongly. A sharp in-cutter saw Jaffer losing his stumps.

Mumbai skipper Amol Muzumdar confessed that Munaf took the game away from them. “Munaf bowled brilliantly, he bowled two deadly spells on Monday and Tuesday and that took away game from us,” he said. On his own team’s show he added, “I’m certainly disappointed, the youngsters performed and senior failed. We dropped catches and that cost us.”

National selector Bhupinder Singh said: “Munaf is looking fit and that is a good sign for Indian cricket. He got proper movement from the wicket that was batsmen-friendly. I think he is gradually returning to his old form,” he told The Indian Express.

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The bowler, who had frustrated the authorities with his fickle fitness and sudden drop of form was gradually taking a U-turn after the performance. “We need him badly, it’s good to see him back in form. He bowled brilliantly today,” said North Zone selector. Optimistic after Munaf’s fine show, Bhupinder added, “The big plus point with Munaf now is he is bowling at a decent pace.”

SCOREBOARD

Mumbai 1st Innings: 453

Rest of India 1st Innings: 472

Mumbai 2nd Innings: S Kukreja run out (Munaf Patel) 14, A Rahane c Chopra b Sharma 27, W Jaffer b Munaf Patel 25, A Muzumdar c Chopra b Bose 4, P Naik lbw Munaf Patel 13, A Nayar c Chopra b Munaf Patel 8, R Powar b Munaf Patel 0, A Agarkar not out 11, I Abdulla c Mishra b Sharma 0, O Gaurav c Parthiv Patel b Sharma 0, R Verma c Parthiv Patel b Munaf Patel 0

Extras (lb1, nb3): 4; Total (all out; 33.3 overs): 106

Fall of wickets: 1-43, 2-43, 3-50, 4-74, 5-82, 6-82, 7-103, 8-104, 9-105

Bowling: Ranadeb Bose 11-1-42-1, Ishant Sharma 11-3-31-3, Amit Mishra 4-1-7-0, Munaf Patel 7.3-2-25-5

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Rest of India 2nd innings: A Chopra st Gaurav b Abdulla 7, Parthiv Patel not out 59, Mohd Kaif not out 22

Extras (lb2, nb1): 3; Total (for 1 wkt; 18.5 overs): 91

Fall of wicket: 1-39

Bowling: Ajit Agarkar 3.5-0-31-0, Rajesh Verma 3-0-29-0, Abhisek Nayar 6-1-11-0, Iqbal Abdulla 6-0-18-1