Rohit makes the most of his chances

Rohit Sharma may have been dropped thrice in his essay,but at the end of the Mumbai innings,it didnt matter; only his unbeaten 200 did.

Mumbais Ajinkya Rahane too had a charmed life on 12 and went on to score a hundred. But Bengal clearly didnt learn from their mistakes. Wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha couldnt hold on to a regulation catch and Sreevats Goswami let another one go by at first slip. Ranadeb Bose,who was the unlucky bowler,was completely dominating Rohit Sharma at that time.

But,like all good batsmen,the 23-year-old wrested back the initiative by concentrating hard,and when he did get going,the Bengal bowlers were completely clueless. His double century came in 257 balls with 23 fours and three sixes.

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Mumbai declared on 621/8 in their first innings on the second day of the Elite Group A match at the Eden Gardens on Thursday. At stumps,the hosts were 28 for the loss of Arindam Dass wicket.

My partnership with (Iqbal) Abdulla was important after we lost two early wickets. As far as my batting is concerned,its good to get a big score. I havent set any target for this season,nor am I thinking about the World Cup. I know if I score runs,it will be counted, Sharma said.

Bengal had a sniffing chance after Mumbai lost Abhishek Nayar (19) and Ajit Agarkar (4) in the first session. But a 144-run seventh wicket partnership between Sharma and Abdulla shut the hosts out. Proving that his 150 against Saurashtra was no fluke,left-arm spinner Abdulla scored a fluent 81 in 95 balls. Ramesh Powar and Dhawal Kulkarni chipped in with 38 and 37 not out respectively.

The pressure of a 600-plus score told on Bengal batting. A good opening partnership was important but with Das (8) already back in the hut,the outright win that Sharma predicted seemed a real possibility.

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Brief Scores: Mumbai 621/8 decl (Rohit Sharma not out 200,I Abdulla 81; Manoj Tiwary 2/68) vs Bengal 28/1