Mumbai ride on Shreyas' 117, edge ahead

PUNE: Shreyas Iyer was on song from the first ball, and not for the first time in the season.
The Mumbaikar came in to bat after Jaydev Unadkat had struck with the second ball of the innings, snaring Akhil Herwadkar with a well pitched outswinger. Playing in his first Ranji Trophy final, any batsman would have felt some nerves, but not a confident 21-year-old Iyer.As Unadkat tried to surprise him with a full length delivery, Iyer elegantly turned him to square leg for a boundary .
“I thought he would bowl an outswinger, but it came straight on to my pads, and I had to put bat on it. I timed it well, and it went for four,“ Iyer said as a matter of fact. “I back my instinct, that's a good thing about me. Playing the new ball was tough, so I think we have a good total.“
Iyer went on to collect his fourth hundred of the season, a vital 117 (142 balls) in 228 minutes to notch up a personal milestone and also help Mumbai take the first innings lead. Mumbai ended the day at 262 for eight in reply to Saurashtra's first innings total of 235. Iyer has now aggregated 1321 runs for the season, 94 short of VVS Laxman's 1999-2000 tally of 1415, which is the record for a season. Should Mumbai bat again, Iyer will get another chance to rewrite the record books.
Iyer had a reprieve on 37 when he was dropped at second slip by Arpit Vasavada off Deepak Punia in the 16th over of the innings. Ironically, when he was dismissed by Chirag Jani, umpire Shamshuddin referred it to third umpire KN Ananthapadmanaban who adjudged the delivery to be legal although replays showed the bowler had landed his front foot on the line.
But Iyer was in sublime form otherwise. Shuffling a little to adjust to the swing, Iyer had extra time to play his shots. Perfectly balanced and steady while playing his strokes, Iyer hit 15 fours and two sixes during his 142-ball innings. “I've learnt that you should never be satisfied with what you achieve. Be hungry all the time, and try to break your own records instead of looking at someone else's record,“ he said with immense self-belief.
Saurashtra's seamers suffered from inconsistency . Except for Unadkat, the other seamers ­ Hardik Rathod, Prerak Mankad, Deepak Punia and Chirag Jani ­ struggled with the line and ength. Unadkat picked up 2-16 in his opening spell, reducing Mumbai to 23 or two, but the pressure wasn't sus ained from the other end.
Iyer and Suryakumar Yadav (48), who put on 152 runs for the third wicket, increased the tempo after lunch and he run rate reached 4.92. The Saurash ra pacers found their bearings after ea as Jani dismissed Iyer and Aditya Tare in the space of 13 balls. When Punia had Yadav in the 49th over, three wickets had fallen for 40 runs. Then, Rathod changed the complexion of the game first trapping Nayar leg before in the 60th over and then Dhawal Kulkarni and Shardul Thakur off successive balls.
Rathod, however, was honest in admitting that the bowlers had been outplayed by the rival batsmen. “When Suryakumar and Iyer were playing, we couldn't execute our plans. Suryakumar was taking singles and Iyer was playing his strokes. So we had to keep changing our strategies often, so the bowling varied a little bit,“ he said.