A four-match-old speedster and a portly all-rounder crashed through the Gujarat batting line-up to hand Mumbai the initiative in their Elite Division Ranji clash. Parthiv Patel’s (87) resilience saved them further embarrassment as they ended the day at 210-8.At the start of the day, 23-year-old Usman Malvi sent shockwaves in the rival camp with his lateral movement. Off the four wickets that fell in the session, Malvi picked three. He also reposed the faith showed in him by the team, which was seeking a replacement for Ajit Agarkar who will be on national duty during the next two matches.Off-spinner Ramesh Powar then took charge extracting appreciable turn and bounce from the pavilion end. The Gujarat batsmen fell prey to him and he ended the day with five wickets in his kitty. ‘‘I have been varying the pace and working at the weaknesses of the batsmen,’’ he said later.Parthiv Patel was the lone batsman to stand up to the challenge. Occupation of the crease seemed to be high on his agenda. But after batting for more than four hours, he skied an attempted straight loft off Powar to end his stay at the crease.
