Ranji Wrap: Mumbai overtakes Punjab on day two

Mumbai: Mumbai skipper Wasim Jaffer today overtook former teammate Amol Muzumdar as the highest run-getter in Ranji Trophy while notching up 82 as his team overhauled Punjab’s modest first innings total of 226 on the second day of the Elite Division Group A match here today. Jaffer needed 50 runs to go past Muzumdar, who had overtaken Amarjeet Kaypee two years ago while playing for Assam and reached the milestone, and he did that during the course of his 187-minute stay at the crease here at the Wankhede Stadium. At stumps, the hosts were 308 for five, a lead of 82 runs over Punjab who made 226 in their first essay, with Ankit Chavan (17) and Ramesh Powar (30) remaining unbeaten. Mumbai commenced day two at 22 for no loss and progressed slowly before accelerating in the post-lunch session. Apart from Jaffer, opener Kaustubh Pawar made a slow 46 in over three-and-a-half hours to lay a good foundation. [caption id=“attachment_163475” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Mumbai’s captain Wasim Zaffer in action during the Ranji Trophy match against Punjab in Mumbai on Thursday. PTI”] [/caption] Thereafter, Jaffer and Suryakumar Yadav, who made a quickfire 64 at better than run a ball with ten fours and a six, capitalised on it. Jaffer, who came in at the fall of opener Praful Waghela at 58, departed when the team needed just seven runs to take the lead, stretching out to the lanky Rahul Sharma and getting stumped. His knock contained 11 fours and a six that came off 122 balls. Jaffer and Yadav, who faced 56 balls in his 70-minute stay, put on a breezy stand of 56 for the fourth wicket in 13.3 overs to prevent Punjab from getting a grip in the match. For Punjab, medium pacer Harmeet Singh became the pick of the bowlers with two for 41, while the other two wickets were shared by Navdeep Singh (1/35) and Baltej Singh. Spinners Rahul Sharma (1/92) and Bipul Sharma (0/53) proved expensive. In the morning, openers Pawar and Waghela batted cautiously against the Punjab new ball attack. Waghela, after scoring 28 in over two-and-a-half hours, edged Harmeet behind the stumps to depart in the 22nd over. Jaffer’s arrival at the crease quickened the rate of scoring a bit as he and Pawar took the score past the 100-run mark with a stand of 57 in 18.5 overs before the latter was dismissed by Baltej Singh. Hiken Shah did not last long but he helped his skipper add 49 runs. Thereafter, Suryakumar Yadav joined Jaffer in the middle and started to attack the Punjab bowlers. He swept the lanky Rahul Sharma for three boundaries in an over. The leg-spinner was looking good for a hundred but got out to an ambitious shot, the off glide that he missed off Harmeet and was struck in front. Jaffer had departed a while earlier off Sharma, who otherwise had a forgettable day, giving away 92 runs in 19 overs. Left-arm Bipul Sharma, too, was unimpressive and gave away 53 in just nine overs. Yadav fell with Mumbai scorecard reading 257 but any hopes Punjab might have entertained to cut short the home team’s innings were belied by Chavan and Powar who put on a brisk, unbeaten half-century stand before the stumps were drawn. Jaffer, speaking at the end of the day about his achievement at the domestic level, said though he was very pleased with the mark, it was not a world record. “I’m very happy to have set the record but it’s not a world record. I’m fortunate to have played for Mumbai for so many years and to have been a part of the Ranji Trophy winning team seven times. So many others have played in the tournament without being part of the Ranji winning teams,” said Jaffer who has scored over 15,000 runs in first-class cricket. Jaffer rated his 98 in the second innings against Tamil Nadu, when Mumbai beat the southern outfit in the final at home to win the Ranji Trophy eight seasons ago, as his memorable innings in the national championship. “I had made 98 against Tamil Nadu in the final in 2003. That was a memorable innings. I was a part of the Ranji Trophy winning team on seven occasions and winning the Ranji Trophy for the first time as a captain is the moment I cherish,” he said. Brief scores Rajasthan in driver’s seat against Orissa in Ranji At close on the second day, Orissa were tottering at 76 for six in reply to Rajasthan first innings total of 423. Kaif’s unbeaten 101 steers Uttar Pradesh to 276/6 Karnataka 314 all out in 95 overs (Stuart Binny 94, Bhuvneshwar Kumar 5/84, Imtiyaz Ahmed 3/80). Uttar Pradesh: 276 for 6 in 83 overs (Mohammad Kaif 101 batting, Bhuvneshwar Kumar 52 batting; Amit Verma 1/19, Sunil Raju 1/29). Railways on verge of defeat as another 18 wkts fall on Day 2 Saurashtra 175 & 152 (Ravindra Jadeja 45, Nilesh Chauhan 2/15, KK Upadhyay 2/18). Railways 81 (Mahesh Rawat 33, Ravindra Jadeja 6/23) & 97/6 (M Suresh 27 batting, Kamlesh Makvana 5/30). Haryana bounce back against Gujarat on 2nd day Haryana first innings: 207 and 61 for no loss in 22 overs (Nitin Saini batting 32, Rahul Dewan batting 28). Gujarat first innings: 228 all out in 78.3 overs (Manpreet Juneja 42; Jayant Yadav 3/47, Amit Mishra 3/52). PTI