Jaffer salutes Rohit, Dhawal as Mumbai complete formalities

MUMBAI: At 63/4 chasing 409, Rajasthan were hoping for either a miracle from Gagan Khoda and the rest of the batsmen or an earthquake measuring 100 on the Richter scale with its epicentre being the CCI. Neither of that happened.
Seamer Dhawal Kulkarni (4-48) and off-spinner Ramesh Powar (3-26), heroes of Mumbai's first innings, got amongst the wickets again and seamer Usman Malvi picked 3-41 to bowl Rajasthan out for 171, 22 minutes after lunch on Day 4 of the Super League clash at the Cricket Club of India on Thursday.Hosts and 37-time Ranji champions Mumbai thus emerged victorious by 237 runs.
The win also meant skipper Wasim Jaffer had a winning start to his captaincy career. "We had targeted a 250-run win and won by 237 runs. Apart from the 50-odd runs Rajasthan's last wicket pair added in the first innings, everything went as per our plans. We discussed that in our team meeting today and realised the importance of not letting that happen again," said the new skipper who, it must be said, was impressive with his tactics and field placings.
However, there are a few grey areas before the team takes on Gujarat at Surat from November 10 to 13 and then the stronger teams like Delhi, Punjab and Hyderabad. Seamer Ajit Agarkar too went wicketless and former skipper Amol Muzumdar flopped badly.
"I'm not too worried actually. Sairaj didn't actually get to bowl too much. When you play five bowlers, one of them gets underbowled. Ajit looked in better rhythm in the second innings. He needs a few overs under his belt. Once he does that he can pick five-wicket hauls and win you matches," added Jaffer.