Mumbai, Feb 25

West Zone

Mumbai v Saurashtra

In their third game of the tournament, Mumbai beat Saurashtra by one wicket at the Wankhede Stadium to seal a place in the Vijay Hazare Trophy beginning early next month. In yet another last-over nail-biting finish the Mumbai lower-order batsmen Iqbal Abdulla (29 off 31) and Dhawal Kulkarni (15 off 7) took the team across the line.

Playing without senior batsman Wasim Jaffer, whose role was pivotal in the win against Gujarat, the home team was reeling at 41 for four in 10 overs. Chasing 252, they lost Sushant Marathe with just two runs on the board while vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane (13) once gain departed without a substantial contribution. Abhishek Nayar was then adjudged lbw off Sandip Maniyar while a mix-up with Anup Revandkar saw the back of Surya Kumar Yadav for four after both batsmen ended up at the non-striker’s end. The required run-rate kept creeping up as the Mumbai batsmen found it difficult to find the gaps. 73 runs later Revandkar too was run-out for 45. Ajit Agarkar (28 off 20) seemed to ease off the pressure but found the fielder in an attempt to clear the ropes and a little later Ankit Chavan departed in a similar fashion, leaving the team at 177 for seven.

With 75 required off 70 balls Abdulla joined debutant Shoaib Shaikh who had held one end up. After Shaikh’s departure in the 48th over, Dhawal Kulkarni hit a six and a four to take the hosts within sniffing distance of the victory. Kshemal Waingankar and Abdulla held their nerve to seal a win with two balls to spare.

Saurashtra opener Sagar Jogiyani (67 off 53, 9x4, 2x6) began with a bang, slamming Agarkar for three boundaries in the first over. Suarashtra were cruising comfortably at 57 for no loss when Revandkar trapped veteran batsman Sitanshu Kotak lbw. But three quick blows by Waingankar left the visitors struggling at 116 for six in the 28th over. The pacer was on a hat-trick with the wickets of Jogiyani and Arpit Vasavada and later claimed Sheldon Jackson. Dhawal Kulkarni chipped in with the key wicket of Saurashtra captain Cheteshwar Pujara and Ankit Chavan sent back Kuldeep Rawal.

Chirag Jani and Kamlesh Makwana put up a 135-run unbroken partnership to wrest back the initiative for Saurashtra. The duo plundered 91 runs off the last 10 overs to take the team to 251 for six. While Agarkar was hit for 18 runs off the penultimate over, Kulkarni conceded 14 runs in the last. Relishing the Mumbai bowling, Jani hammered 79 (not-out) runs off 71 balls with three sixes and eight boundaries while Makwana remained unbeaten on 54 (67 balls).

Brief scores: Mumbai 252/9 (Shoaib Shaikh 83, Sandip Maniyar 3-34) beat Gujarat 251/6 in 50 overs (Chirag Jani 79, Sagar Jogiyani 67, Kshemal Waingankar 3-21) by one wicket.

Baroda v Gujarat

Gujarat edged Baroda by two runs in a nerve-wracking tie played at the Bandra Kurla Complex. After being put into bat, Gujarat reached 196 for nine in 50 overs thanks to a half-century from No. 4 batsman Niraj Patel (56) and a couple of contributions lower down the order, from Mehul Patel (29*) and Amit Singh (21). In reply, Baroda began well with an opening stand of 66 runs, but soon stumbled to 172 for seven in 43.3 overs. However, with Baroda needing five runs to win, Gujarat left-arm spinner, Akshar Patel took two wickets. Number 10 batsman Murtuja Vahora (0) was run-out to end Baroda’s innings at 194 in 49.1 overs.

Brief scores: Gujarat 196/10 (Niraj Patel 56, Abhijit Karambelkar 2-41) beat Baroda 194/10 (Rakesh Solanki 52, Mohnish Parmar 2-33) by two runs