NEW DELHI : The drawn match of the Ranji Trophy Elite group `A' league fetched Mumbai two points and Delhi none at the Ferozeshah Kotla here on Saturday.

"Quite happy to collect two points," noted Mumbai coach Karsan Ghavri but "not the start we would've wanted," said Delhi coach Madan Lal.

That Mumbai would grab the first innings lead was a foregone conclusion but the interest on the final day died once it decided not to enforce the follow-on. Delhi, which resumed at 241 for six, succumbed eight minutes before lunch and conceded a lead of 200 but Mumbai opted to bat.

"There was nothing in the pitch and the bowlers were tired too. It would've been tough to bowl Delhi out in just two sessions. If we had got Delhi out within half an hour this morning we could've looked at the option of follow-on," Ghavri said.

Delhi loses Manhas early

Delhi lost Mithun Manhas early in the day when he nicked an intended drive, 13 runs short of a century. Sarandeep Singh and Chetnya Nanda prolonged the end but Mumbai was not to be denied for long with off-spinner Ramesh Powar picking two more wickets to take his tally to six. His performance stood out on a placid track.

Onkar Khanvilkar, who played some rousing strokes to make 71 off 129 balls with 11 fours, and Vineet Indulkar compiled 55 with six fours and a six put Mumbai's second innings to good use.

Delhi may have found a bowling option in Aakash Chopra, who grabbed two wickets with his mixed brand of leg-spin and off-spin.

"I'm happy with this positive start to the season. It was good that seniors like Wasim (Jaffer) and Amol (Muzumdar) got runs and showed the way," said Mumbai skipper Nilesh Kulkarni, who was spoken to by the Match Referee V.K. Ramaswamy following complaint from the umpires, S. K. Porel and Francis Gomes, for showing dissent. "The matter was sorted out," said Ghavri.

Mumbai now meets Karnataka at Bangalore and Delhi takes on Bengal at the Jamia Millia ground here with both the matches starting on December 1.

The scores:

Mumbai — 1st innings: 551

Delhi — 1st innings: A. Chopra st. Sawant b Powar 33, Varun Kumar c Jaffer b Powar 19, Rajan Gupta c Muzumdar b Powar 3, M. Manhas c Sawant b Malvi 87, R. Bhatia b Powar 13, P. Chawla c Indulkar b Malvi 48, Abhinav Bali lbw b Kulkarni 14, Sarandeep c Sawant b Powar 46, Chetnya Nanda lbw b Kulkarni 22, Kunal Lall (not out) 2, Amit Bhandari c Mane b Powar 1. Extras (b-7, lb-7, nb-23, w-6) 43. Total (in 130.2 overs) 331.

Fall of wickets: 1-72, 2-76, 3-77, 4-113, 5-224, 6-241, 7-259, 8-328, 9-330.

Mumbai bowling: Salvi 33-6-81-0, Malvi 32-7-85-2, Powar 35.2-15-83-6, Shetty 1-1-0-0, Kulkarni 22-9-34-2, Khanvilkar 5-0-17-0, Muzumdar 1-0-2-0, Jaffer 1-0-15-0.

Mumbai — 2nd innings: V. Mane c Jain (sub) b Bhandari 5, O. Khanvilkar c Bhandari b Chopra 71, V. Indulkar (not out) 55, V. Sawant b Chopra 8, U. Malvi (not out) 5. Extras (b-6, lb-3, nb-13) 22. Total (for three wickets in 49 overs) 166.

Fall of wickets: 1-20, 2-134, 3-159.

Delhi bowling: Bhandari 12-2-47-1, Lal 13-6-23-0, Sarandeep 13-0-57-0, Nanda 8-1-25-0, Chopra 3-0-5-2.

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