MUMBAI: Mumbai have done most things right in their must-win Ranji Trophy game against Saurashtra over the first two days at the Wankhede Stadium here. But they still have a mountain to climb if they are to pull off an outright victory, something that has eluded them since the start of the season.
Having put up a challenging 394 in their first innings, thanks mainly to the efforts of opener
Jay Bista (127 runs) and skipper
Siddhesh Lad (108 runs, 146 balls, 16x4, 1x6), Mumbai reduced the visitors to 37-3 before a couple of fighting partnerships brought Saurashtra back into the contest.
Batting at No. 4,
Sheldon Jackson (95 runs, 144 balls, 8x4, 3x6) first put on 69 runs with Arpit Vasavada (20 runs) and followed it up with a stand of 107 runs in the company of Prerak Mankad (56*, 106 balls, 10x4) as Saurashtra ended Day Two on 213-5 in 64.5 overs, still trailing by 181 runs.
Things would have been far more comfortable for the visitors, had Jackson not suffered a rush of blood off the penultimate delivery of the day, playing a clumsy shot off pacer Minad Manjrekar to hole out to Shubham Ranjane, who did well to sprint from deep square leg and grab the catch at mid-wicket.
Jackson negotiated some disciplined bowling from the Mumbai seamers to keep Saurashtra in the hunt before committing hara-kiri at the fag end of the day.
He managed to keep his cool when left-arm pacer
Royston Dias (2-32) was going great guns initially, sending back opener Harvik Desai (17 runs) and Vishvarajsinh Jadeja (3) with only 27 runs on the board.
He took a particular liking for debutant off-spinner Tanush Kotian, hitting him for a couple of boundaries and a six. Mankad joined him with the team's score reading 106-4 and the duo repaired the innings.
Jackson made the most of a tired-looking Mumbai attack in the closing stages, hammering allrounder Ranjane for a couple of sixes in the 61st over. He had begun the season in style, hitting 147 and 53 not out against Chhattisgarh. He followed this up with a 54 against Railways. But, he had not been able to replicate his form in the next four games and managed only 84 runs in the next seven innings.
Earlier in the day, Mumbai lost their remaining five wickets for the addition of only 60 runs to their overnight total of 334-5 with skipper Siddhesh Lad battling along gamely before falling to medium pacer Chetan Sakariya for a well-compiled 108.
Resuming on 84, Lad had little choice but to accelerate after Akash Parkar (6 runs) and Kotian (1 run) fell in quick succession with the team's score reading 362-8. He completed his century flicking Sakariya to the boundary and struck a couple of more fours thereafter. However, his aggressive intent was cut short by Sakariya, who had his man caught at mid-on by Jackson on the fifth ball of the 102nd over.
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