Day two belongs to centurion Sarfaraz

BENGALURU: Mumbai batter Sarfaraz Khan struck a superb hundred against Madhya Pradesh on the second day – Thursday – of the Ranji Trophy final here.

Courtesy Sarfaraz’s (134 off 243 balls, 13 fours, 2 sixes) fourth hundred of the season, the 41-time Ranji champion managed a fighting 374 in its first innings after beginning the day at 248 for five. Meanwhile, Madhya Pradesh would be satisfied as it stood at 123 for one at stumps, with Yash Dubey (44 batting off 131 balls, 6 fours) and Shubham Sharma (41 batting off 65 balls, 6 fours) adding 76 runs for the unbroken second wicket.

The day belonged to Sarfaraz, who has now scored an astounding 937 runs in six matches this season. His two maximums came against left-arm spinner Kumar Kartikeya and offie Saransh Jain – over square-leg and down the ground respectively.

But, what stood out was how he managed the innings after Shams Mulani (12) was trapped in front of the wicket by pacer Gourav Yadav (4/106) in the opening over of the day. The batting with the tail displayed his new-found maturity, which is proving to be a boon for Mumbai cricket. Since Sarfaraz waited for the loose deliveries to hit boundaries, MP captain Aditya Shrivastava was forced to open the field.

Once he reached his fifty, the 24-year-old touched the lion’s crest on the jersey. After reaching the 90s, Sarfaraz played a typical T20 scoop over the wicketkeeper’s head while being completely off-balance. He brought up his ton when he thumped a delivery straight down the ground.

The century celebration was a war cry and a thigh thump. Sarfaraz shed tears of relief, having accomplished what he had set out to do. The right-handed batter was involved in four small but effective partnerships, which could prove to be crucial at the end.

Sarfaraz added 40 runs for the seventh wicket with Tanush Kotian (15), 26 for the eighth with Dhawal Kulkarni (1), 39 for the ninth with Tushar Deshpande (6) and 21 for the tenth with Mohit Avasthi (7 not out). By the time he became Mumbai’s last batter to be dismissed, he had ensured that the total was good enough for the bowlers to defend.

But, there are ominous signs as the MP batters have looked solid so far and Mumbai’s bowling line-up has not made much of an impact, save Tushar’s (1/31) delivery that straightened to find opener Himanshu Mantri’s (31) pads.

Final: Mumbai (1st innings) 374 in 127.4 overs (Sarfaraz 134, Y Jaiswal 78, P Shaw 47, G Yadav 4/106, Anubhav 3/81) vs Madhya Pradesh (1st innings) 123/1 in 40 overs (Y Dubey 44*, Shubham 41*)