The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Match drawn as Mumbai opts for batting practice

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Match drawn as Mumbai opts for batting practice

Sports Reporter

ROHTAK: With the fate of the match decided a day earlier, the final day of the Ranji Trophy quarterfinal tie between Mumbai and Haryana at the Chaudhary Bansi Lal Stadium, Lahli, here was destined to offer plenty of dull action apart from the draw.

After ensuring its berth in the semifinals, Mumbai fiddled with its batting order and allowed the tailenders some crucial knocking practice in the middle.

That puts in perspective why batsmen like Iqbal Abdulla and Usman Malvi came ahead of skipper Wasim Jaffer in the visiting side’s second essay on Sunday.

Mumbai coach Pravin Amre was more interested in knowing who would be his team’s opponent in the semifinals and was enquiring about Delhi’s progress against Tamil Nadu at the Palam ground.

There were smiles all around the Mumbai camp after news broke that it would meet Delhi at home in the last-four stage.

Thus, Ajinkya Rahane’s second century of the match did not inspire much excitement. His knock (101 runs, 172 balls, 198 minutes) contained seven fours and a six. The match ended with Mumbai declaring its second innings at 334 for seven.

Mumbai skipper Wasim Jaffer admitted that his team’s top-order batsmen had not been consistent. “We recovered well in this match. The top-order is something we need to look at.

“But we have a Times-Shield match and all the batsmen will be playing. There will be a chance to iron out the problems,” he said.

He rated Delhi as a tough rival in the semifinals. “Delhi chased 474 against Tamil Nadu, which was the best team in our group. So they will be coming with a lot of confidence. Ishant Sharma’s presence will also add to their strength,” Jaffer said.

The scores:

Mumbai — 1st innings: 400

Haryana — 1st innings: 164

Mumbai — 2nd innings: S. Kukreja c Rana b D. Singh 81, S. Marathe c Saini b Badhwar 0, R. Sharma c Saini b Badhwar 51, V. Samant c Saini b Rana 0, I. Abdulla st Saini b Mishra 51, A. Rahane (not out) 101, U. Malvi b Mishra 0, W. Jaffer lbw b Rawat 12, A. Agarkar (not out) 25; Extras: (b-2, lb-5, nb-3, wd-3) 13; Total: (for seven wkts decl, in 106 overs) 334.

Fall of wickets: 1-7, 2-114, 3-119, 4-163, 5-248, 6-252, 7-283.

Haryana bowling: S. Rana 20-6-44-1, S. Badhwar 25-3-74-2, D. Singh 14-5-50-1, A. Rawat 22-2-87-1, A. Mishra 19-4-58-2, S. Sharma 4-0-7-0, R. Dewan 1-0-1-0, M. Sharma 1-0-6-0.

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