The Hindu : Sport : Rohit, Nayar bail out Mumbai

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Rohit, Nayar bail out Mumbai

V.V. Subrahmanyam

Bhuvneshwar caps a memorable day with a five-wicket haul

— PHOTO: K. RAMESH BABU

PLEASED AS PUNCH: Rohit Sharma jumps for joy after scoring a century against U.P. in the Ranji Trophy final in Hyderabad on Monday.

HYDERABAD: Bhuvneshwar Kumar scripted a piece of history when he dismissed batting great Sachin Tendulkar for a duck. The first by the master batsman in Indian domestic cricket.

For someone who was not born when Tendulkar made his Test debut, the 18-year-old fast bowler produced a dream, first spell of 12-7-23-3 to push the 37-time champion Mumbai into a crisis at 55 for four at one stage on the first day of the five-day Ranji Trophy final against Uttar Pradesh at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium here on Monday.

However, the famed Mumbai resilience was to the fore thanks to a century by Rohit Sharma (113 batting, 206b, 18x4) and southpaw Abhishek Nayar (99, 190b, 13x4, 1x6), who put on a crucial stand of 207 for the fifth wicket to help the team finish the day at a respectable 297 for six.

Double blow

It could have been a more satisfying day for Mumbai but for Bhuvneshwar’s double blow with the second new ball trapping Nayar leg-before and forcing Sairaj Bahutule (0) to snick into the wicketkeeper’s gloves off successive balls to reduce it from 262 for four to 262 for six.

Earlier, apparently, thriving on the wonderful spell from the other end by the unlucky Praveen Kumar, who troubled every batsman with his late swing, Bhuvneshwar rose to the challenge of bowling to the big guns like Mumbai captain Wasim Jaffer and Tendulkar.

He struck the first blow trapping Jaffer in front and then makeshift opener Vinayak Samant in similar fashion with late inswing.

At the other end, left-arm fast bowler R.P. Singh was fortunate to earn an lbw verdict against the in-form Ajinkya Rahane when the ball pitched outside the leg-stump.

Prize scalp

The focus shifted to Tendulkar who walked to the crease to loud cheers from the 2000-odd crowd. But, Bhuvneshwar was in no mood to leave the centre-stage. Bowling his heart out and with a near-perfect line and length, he induced Tendulkar to lean forward to one that swung back only to take an inside edge to lob on to onside where an alert Shivakant Shukla ran from short mid-wicket and dived forward to complete a smart catch ending the maestro’s 15-ball stay at the wicket. A dismissal which expectedly triggered off long celebrations in the U.P. camp.

But, Rohit, who overcame a shaky start and was dropped twice on 16 and 39 by the U.P. captain Mohd. Kaif off Praveen Kumar and R.P. Singh respectively, found his wonted touch later.

He seemed to relish playing at his second ‘home’ ground (he plays for Deccan Chargers in the IPL) to follow up his century for India ‘A’ against Australia earlier in the season. Two strokes stood out for sheer class and timing in his splendid century — a square-cut and then an off-drive off R.P. Singh in one over.

Authentic strokeplay

Nayar was more authentic in his strokeplay with some extravagant strokes as he was confidence personified from the start. The best shot of his innings was when he walked down to loft leg-spinner Piyush Chawla for a huge six over long-on.

Aptly Bhuvneshwar helped his team come back strongly in the final session to finish with an impressive five-wicket haul to cap a memorable day.

The scores:

Mumbai — 1st innings: V. Samant lbw b Bhuvneshwar 26, W. Jaffer lbw b Bhuvneshwar 1, A. Rahane lbw b R.P. Singh 23, S. Tendulkar c Shukla b Bhuvneshwar 0, R. Sharma (batting) 113, A. Nayar lbw b Bhuvneshwar 99, S. Bahutule c Amir Khan b Bhuvneshwar 0, A. Agarkar (batting) 21; Extras: (b-4, lb-3, w-2, nb-5) 14. Total: (for six wkts. in 90 overs): 297.

Fall of wickets: 1-16, 2-42, 3-55, 4-55, 5-262, 6-262.

Uttar Pradesh bowling: Praveen Kumar 24-6-56-0, Bhuvaneshwar 23-7-64-5, R.P. Singh 16-0-66-1, Parvinder 8-2-29-0, Chawla 14-2-54-0, Praveen Gupta 3-0-11-0, Raina 2-0-10-0.

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