Ranji: Mumbai bowlers shows good effort against Gujarat

Mumbai bowlers led by left-arm medium pacer Royston Dias raised the team's chances of taking the crucial first-innings lead as they reduced Gujarat to 232/8 on the second day of their Ranji Trophy Elite Group A match here Thursday.

At stumps, Gujarat still trails by 65 runs and all their hopes are pinned on wicket-keeper Dhruv Raval (60 not out), who showed resistance despite being devoid of partners at the other end. Mumbai, courtesy all-rounder Shivam Dubey's hundred, had posted 297 in their first essay.

Gujarat openers Kathan Patel (28) and skipper Priyank Panchal (31) added 49 for the first wicket. But when the two looked set for a big score, Dias broke the stand as Panchal edged to wicket-keeper Aditya Tare. From then, the Mumbai bowlers did not look back and kept picking wickets at regular intervals on a greenish Wankhede wicket. Dias (3-52) was the most successful bowler and was ably supported by skipper Dhawal Kulkarni (2-50) and Shivam Dubey (2-45), who had a good time with the ball too. Part-time bowler Jay Bista also chipped in with one wicket.

Gujarat batsmen, apart from B H Merai (4), got starts but failed to convert them into big scores. Manprit Juneja (37), Rujul Bhatt (41) and Roosh Kalaria (23) were dismissed when they looked set. Wicket-keeper Raval, on his part, played a composed knock that eight fours and two sixes.

And he would be keen to take his side ahead with the help of the last two batsmen. Meanwhile, at Rajkot, Saurashtra skipper Jaydev Shah led from the front with his 165 as the hosts piled up 521 on the board in their first innings. In reply, Baroda were 10/0 and have a mountain to climb. At Raipur, Faiz Fazal struck a half-century as Vidarbha ended the day on 119/3 as they trail hosts Chhattisgarh by 113 runs. At Mysuru, Karnataka managed to take the crucial first-innings lead against Maharashtra.

They reduced the visitors to 48/3 in the second essay as Maharashtra are still 25 runs adrift. Brief scores:

At Mumbai: Mumbai 297 all out versus Gujarat 232/8 (Dhruv Raval 60 not out, Manprit Juneja 37, Royston Dias 3-52) Gujarat trail by 65 runs. At Raipur: Chhattisgarh 232 all out (Manoj Singh 77 not out, Aditya Thakare 5-56) versus Vidarbha 119/3 ( Faiz Fazal 53, Onkar Verma 2-33). Vidarbha trail by 113 runs. At Rajkot: Saurashtra 521 (Jaydev Shah 165, Aarpit Vasavada 120, Atit Sheth 3-74) versus Baroda 10/0. Baroda trail by 511 runs. At Mysuru: Maharashtra 113 and 48/3 against Karnataka 186 (Shreyas Gopal 40, Dega Nischal 39, Satyajeet Bachhav 3-43). Maharashtra trail by 25 runs.

(With inputs from agencies.)