Mumbai takes opening day honours

MUMBAI: Tushar Deshpande (3/24) and Shardul Thakur (2/48) starred with the ball to put Mumbai on top following a meek display from Tamil Nadu on the opening day of the Ranji Trophy semifinals here on Saturday.

Tamil Nadu skipper B Sai Kishore’s decision to bat first backfired as the visitor was shot out for a mere 146 in the first innings with Deshpande and Thakur making life miserable for the visiting batters at the BKC Ground.

If it was any consolation, Tamil Nadu struck twice with the ball but Mumbai shaved off a significant chunk of first-innings deficit, reaching 45/2 at stumps to trail by another 101 runs.

Musheer Khan (24 not out) and nightwatchman Mohit Avasthi (1) were at the crease with Mumbai losing openers Prithvi Shaw (5) and Bhupen Lalwani (15).

Shaw fell early against Kuldeep Sen while Sai Kishore trapped Lalwani for the second wicket, but Mumbai remained on top.

On a track which had movement off the surface as well as turn for spinners, Mumbai proved to be the superior side given its bowlers extracted more support and the batters did not find getting runs as tough as the visitor.

Tamil Nadu, shellshocked by a disastrous start to its first semifinal in seven years, could not muster the courage to stage a fightback and folded shortly after tea despite Vijay Shankar (44) and Washington Sundar’s (43) rearguard act.

The horror began when B Sai Sudharsan was trapped leg-before on the fourth ball of the match by Shardul Thakur and it did not take long for the Mumbai bowlers to get all over the Tamil Nadu side in the first hour.

Mumbai bowlers exploited the early moisture with the new ball to perfection as Mohit Avasthi had TN’s leading run-maker N Jagadeesan (4) caught at short leg by Musheer Khan.

Coming in as first change, Deshpande remained unplayable throughout the innings for the Tamil Nadu batters.

Pradosh Ranjan Paul’s bat curled in his hands as he hit one straight to Deshpande, who took a fine return catch for the third wicket.

It was a brave call for skipper Sai Kishore to promote himself ahead of the dependable Baba Indrajith but one that did not work.

Sai Kishore’s footwork was all over the place when Deshpande pitched one in line of the stumps to move the ball back in, pegging back the middle-stump as Tamil Nadu slumped to 17/4.

Tamil Nadu’s hopes of a revival took a body blow when Indrajith (11) was caught at short midwicket with Tanush Kotian (2/10) taking a sharp diving catch in front of him to leave the visitor reeling.

Shankar and Sundar fought well on either side of the lunch break but the pitch did not relent in giving support to the Mumbai bowlers.

Shankar, who began well with a flurry of fours, was tested consistently outside the off-stump by Deshpande, who kept moving the ball away from the right-hander.

BRIEF SCORES: Tamil Nadu 146 in 64.1 overs (Vijay Shankar 44, W Sundar 43, T Deshpande 3/24) vs Mumbai 45/2 in 17 overs