Mumbai: Test specialist Ajinkya Rahane and young prodigy Prithvi Shaw failed with the bat as Railways bundled out Mumbai for a paltry 114 on the opening day of their Elite Group B Ranji Trophy game here Wednesday.
This is perhaps the first time that the 41-time Ranji trophy champions have been shot out before lunch in Mumbai or elsewhere.
However, Mumbai bowlers led by debutante Deepak Shetty (3-20) initially came hard on Railways before their captain Karn Sharma (24 not out) and 33-year-old Arindam Ghosh (52 not out) rallied the innings with their unbroken 73-run stand for the sixth wicket.
Their partnership ensured that Railways took the first-innings lead and ended the day at 116/5 as bad light stopped play at 3.54 PM.
Earlier, the famed Mumbai batting line-up collapsed as little-known right-arm medium pacer Pradeep T (6-37) ran through their line-up on a greenish Wankhede wicket.
Railways were rewarded for bowling a disciplined line and in the right areas.
Mumbai openers Shaw (12) and Jay Bista (21) conjured just 18 for the first wicket before Shaw’s leading edge was caught by Pratham Singh at gully off medium pacer Amit Mishra (3-41).
One-down Rahane had an opportunity to get runs under his belt, but he fell for just 5. He edged to second slip, giving Pradeep his first-wicket.
Immediately after that, Pradeep dismissed Bista, who was caught by wicketkeeper Nitin Bhille as the hosts were reeling at 40-3.
Mumbai’s crisis man Siddhesh Lad (14) and skipper Suryakumar Yadav (39) tried to rebuild the innings with their 30-run stand, but medium-pacer Himanshu Sangwan (1-33) broke the partnership as he cleaned up Lad.
Mumbai batters Aditya Tare (4), Akash Parkar (2), Shams Mulani (1) and Shardul Thakur (0) made a beeline to the pavilion as Railways had a clear advantage.
Skipper Surya top scored for Mumbai and struck five boundaries in his quick-fire 40-ball knock. Surya was bowled by Pradeep as he tried to play across the line.
After Surya fell, it was just a matter of time as Mumbai’s innings folded up at 114 in 28.3 overs. Railways also had a horrendous start as Pratham Singh (9) was trapped in front of the wicket by Shetty in the 12th over.
From 20/1, Railways slipped to 23/4, as Mumbai pacers wreaked a havoc, dismissing Nitin Bhille (0), Mrunal Deodhar (12) and Navneet Virk (0) in quick succession.
Medium-pacer Akash Parkar (1-18) struck on his third ball as he removed Dinesh Mor (9), who gave a sitter to Shardul Thakur (0-43) at point as Railways lost half of the side for 43.
However, then Ghosh and Sharma joined hands and pulled the side out of trouble. Forty seven minutes after tea, bad light stopped play, when Railways were at 116/5. No further play was possible as stumps were drawn.
Pradeep, who earlier played for Karnataka in white ball cricket, later said this was his first five-wicket haul and he enjoyed Suryas wicket most as he had planned for it. This is his first season for the Railways.
Brief scores: Mumbai 114 (Suryakumar Yadav 39, Jay Bista 21; Pradeep T 6-37) versus Railways 116/5 (Arindam Ghosh 52 batting, Karn Sharma 24 batting, Deepak Shetty 3-20). Railways lead by 2 runs.
PTI
