Mumbai, Nov 11: After playing an entertaining little innings, Rajasthan’s Pankaj Singh returned to claim two early Mumbai wickets on Day 2 of the Ranji encounter between the two sides. At stumps at the Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai were 104 for two after 25 overs in response to Rajasthan’s first innings score of 530 runs 152.2 overs.

Opening the bowling for Rajasthan, Pankaj Singh sent back openers Kaustubh Pawar and Wasim Jaffer to leave Mumbai on 22 for the loss of two wickets. Mumbai’s star Rohit Sharma was then dropped early in his innings by Ashok Menaria off Deepak Chahar. Capitalising on the life given to him, Sharma scored a half-century off just 44 balls with 11 boundaries. Sharma remained unbeaten on 55 while Abhishek Nayar on 32 at the end of day’s play.

In the rather eventful last session, Rajasthan failed to capitalise on their early advantage by missing half chances and a run-out opportunity.

After the departure of skipper Hrishikesh Kanitkar (141 runs, including 17 boundaries) an hour into the second day, Robin Bist anchored the Rajasthan innings to help post an imposing first innings score. Unbeaten on 82, the 24-year-old ran out of partners by tea-time.

Although wickets fell at regular intervals, Bist stitched valuable partnerships with the lower-order. Rohit Jhalani (39), who came in after Kanitkar and was sent back by Murtuza Hussain, was involved in a 59-run stand for the sixth wicket with Bist. The Rajasthan wicketkeeper hit the first six of the innings and was the second wicket to fall before lunch when Iqbal Abdulla claimed his off-stump. Vivek Yadav, who replaced him in the middle, was trapped lbw soon after lunch by Dhawal Kulkarni.

Next man in Deepak Chahar added another 18 runs, including a six, in a 35-run stand with Bist before being sent back by Abdulla. Gajendra Singh then built a 49-run partnership with Bist until Kulkarni sent him back for 31. Pankaj Singh, the last Rajasthan batsman, entertained the sparse crowd with a 34-run blitzkrieg that included two sixes and four boundaries. His first hit over the ropes took the visitors to the 500-run mark. Pankaj Singh’s 20-ball cameo was ended by Abdulla who claimed three wickets while Kulkarni claimed a four-for.

Highlights:

ELITE-A: Mumbai vs. Rajasthan at Mumbai - Mumbai 104-2 after 25.0 overs (R Sharma 55*, A Nayar 32*). Rajasthan 530 (152.2 overs)

ELITE-B: Baroda vs. MP at Baroda - MP 63 & 176-2 after 49.0 overs (N Ojha 63*, Bundela 21*). Baroda 375-all out

ELITE-A: Railways vs. Karnataka at Delhi - Railway 134 & 33-2 (f/o) after 16.0 overs. Karnataka 347

ELITE-A: UP vs. Saurashtra at Meerut - Saurashtra 208-4 after 62 overs (J Shah 79). UP 362-all out in 116.0 overs.(Tanmay Srivastav 175*)

ELITE-A: Punjab vs. Orissa at Mohali - Orissa 251 & 0-0 off 1.0 overs.Punjab 255-9D in 78.4 overs (Uday Kaul 62).

ELITE-B: Tamil Nadu vs. Haryana at Chennai - Tamil Nadu 169-1 after 58.0 overs (A Mukund 110*, M Vijay 33*). Haryana 348-all out

ELITE-B: Gujarat vs. Delhi at Valsad - Delhi 118-3 after 35.0 overs (U Chand 72*). Gujarat 520-all out (142.5 overs)

PLATE-A: SSCB vs. Kerala at Trivandram - Kerala 121-4 after 65.2 overs, VA Jagadish 50. SSCB (1st innings): 253-all out

PLATE-A: Himachal vs. Vidarbha at Dharamshala - Vidarbha 142 & 13-0 in 2.0 over.Himachal 195 & 200 in 50.1 overs (S Sriram 87).

PLATE-A: Andhra vs. Tripura at Visakhapatnam - Andhra 235 & 47-3 after 19.0 overs.Tripura 174-all out (83.4 overs), TA Rao 4-78

PLATE-B: Assam vs. Goa at Guwahati - Goa 277-8 after 96.0 overs, R Pinto 115*. Assam 195-all out in 82.0 overs

PLATE-B: Hyderabad vs. Maharashtra at Hyderabad - Maharashtra have won the match by an innings & 6 runs, Akshay D (8-20). Hyderabad 124 & 54-all out. Maharashtra 184-10 (63.1 overs).

PLATE-B: J & K vs. Jharkhand at Srinagar - Play called off due to wet outfield - J & K 59-0 after 11 overs