[caption id="attachment_24198" align="alignnone" width="580"]
Dhawal Kulkarni took 10 wickets in the match. File Pic[/caption]Internet Desk: Defending champions Mumbai beat Tamil Nadu by a narrow margin with two wickets in a low-scoring game as the opening round Ranji Trophy encounter between the two heavyweights ended in less than two and half days.
While BCCI has decided on having neutral venues so that home advantage is wiped out, the character of the track at the Bansi Lal Stadium remained as it has been for over the seasons as there was only single batsman in Abhinav Mukund (56) getting a 50 plus score in the match.
After being dismissed for 87 in the first innings, Tamil Nadu did shade better in the second essay scoring 185, which left Mumbai with a target of 97.
They were reeling at 60 for seven at one stage when veteran Abhishek Nayar, whose oodles of experience at this level came in handy, struck a quickfire 45 off 56 balls.
Nayar's knock had five fours and two sixes as he negated the threat created by seamers Aswin Crist (4/43) and Krishnamoorthy Vignesh (4/29), who had put the Ranji champions on the mat.
Nayar added an invaluable 30 runs with Balvinder Singh Sandhu (Jr) for the eighth wicket to take the team total to 90 before he was sent back by Crist.
But Nayar kept his cool in tense situation to hit a lusty blow as the 41-time champions logged home full points from the encounter.
Tamnil Nadu started the day at 153 for six -- enjoying a lead of 64 runs but could add only 32 more runs as they lost the final four wickets in only 8.4 overs.
Dhawal Kulkarni, who would soon be donning the India ODI colours once again, polished off the tail finishing with 6 for 47 as he ended with match-haul of 10 for 88 on a pacer friendly wicket. It was his 14th five-for in first-class cricket.
The target of 97 would have been a cakewalk on any other wicket but Lahli, which is an open ground is a different proposition.
Mumbai lost their top five for only 35 runs in 17 overs but it was Nayar, who again bailed them out as he has done it innumerable times for the title favourites over the years.
In an other match, Jammu and Kashmir pacer Samiullah Beigh returned with a six-wicket haul but the team found itself on the backfoot as Kerala remained in the hunt for a first innings lead in a rain-interrupted Ranji Trophy group C match here today.
In reply to Kerala's 306 in the first innings, Jammu and Kashmir were 106 for five in 29 overs, trailing by 200 runs on the penultimate day when rain halted the proceedings at 12.59pm.
J and K responded in an aggressive fashion with Adil Reshi's 40 from 38 balls (6x4). He along with Shubham Khajuria (12) put up 57 runs from 62 balls before left-arm spinner Iqbal Abdulla struck.
The signing from Mumbai finished with 3/32, while another left-arm spinner K Monish also joined in the act in a tidy 2/6 from his four overs as the duo took regular wickets before rain played halted their march for a second successive day.
Only 34.5 overs could be possible on day three which was called off at 2.30 as the match headed for a draw.
Wet outfield following yesterday's downpour had delayed the start of the day for 30 minutes as Kerala resuming on 282 for seven were bundled out in 102.1 overs with Sanju Samson's 154 being the highlight of the morning.
The 21-year-old Sanju hit 24 boundaries and one six in his patient knock spanning seven hours and 10 minutes stretching three days.
Earlier, J and K pacer Beigh (6/82) gave the breakthrough dismissing Manu Krishan (18) in the third over of the day to snap his brilliant 52-run eighth wicket partnership with Sanju.
Unbeaten on his overnight score of 142, Sanju got to 150 in 286 balls before becoming seamer Ram Dayal's third victim.
Brief Scores :
Railways 331 & 180/2,(Gurkeerat 66), Punjab 215 all out
- Tamil Nadu 87 & 185,( Mukund 56) , Mumbai 176 all out & 97/8,(Indrajhit28*), Mumbai won by 2 wickets
- Baroda 544/8d (Aditya 142) , Gujarat 277/4, (Bhargav 70)
- Madhya Pradesh 465 all out,(Harpreet Singh 216), Uttar Pradesh 176 all out & 118/2(f/o), (Gaurav 4/44)
- Assam 193 & 100/3, Delhi 589/8d,( Rana 146, Pant 146)
- Maharashtra 210 & 188, Jharkhand 396 & 56/4
- Odhisa 150 & 74/0, Vidarbha 272/6d
- Saurashtra 430 all out,(Shah 193), Rajasthan 62/1,(Manender 44*)
- Himachal Pradesh 357 all out, Andhra 47/1
- Tripura 118 & 149, Chhattisgarh 255 & 13/1, Chhattisgarh won by 9 wickets
- Goa 164 & 5/0, Hyderabad 388
- Services 197 & 148/2, Haryana 248
- Kerala 306, J&K 106/5
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