Mumbai lost five wickets without scoring a run against Baroda in the second innings of their Ranji Trophy semi-final on Wednesday.
BARODA: It has probably never happened before in a first-class cricket match. On Wednesday afternoon, Mumbai lost five wickets without scoring a run against Baroda in the second innings of their Ranji Trophy semi-final.
It took Baroda’s pace duo of Irfan Pathan and Rakesh Patel just 20 balls and 24 minutes to leave Mumbai reeling at 5-0. Sahil Kukreja, Wasim Jaffer, Hiken Shah, Rohit Sharma and captain Amol Muzumdar were back in the hut without troubling the scorer.
Muzumdar admitted after the game that he does not recall a worse start. “Never, not even in the Kanga League,” he said. “Zero for five, no, never. I don’t think so.”
Comfortingly for the Mumbai skipper, his side recovered to 109 for seven by stumps. But that is a different story.
The believe-it-or-not start happened on a day when 17 wickets fell. Nine of them were Baroda wickets in the pre-lunch session. The hosts were bowled out for 142, 40 minutes after lunch, to concede a lead of 91 to Mumbai. When the visitors took guard again, Pathan and Patel got the ball to dart in and swing out on a wicket that allowed the ball to wobble around but not to unplayable proportions.
Kukreja hit the fourth ball of the innings he faced from Pathan to point to begin the slide. Jaffer edged the last ball of the second over, bowled by Patel, to wicket-keeper Pinal Shah. Jaffer indicated that he was not sure if Shah had taken the catch cleanly. But up went the umpire’s finger.
Pathan was steaming in now. The fourth ball of the third over kissed Hiken Shah’s bat and was pouched in the slips. Rohit Sharma joined Muzumdar in the middle. Pathan let the ball rip at good pace. Sharma preferred to let it go, but it was a big mistake. The ball swung back into Sharma’s pads. Pathan did a brief celebratory run and a jig.
All-rounder Abhishek Nair survived the hat-trick ball. But two balls later, Muzumdar, who stayed back to a Patel delivery, was trapped in front.
“I know of zero for two and three even,” Patel said later. “But zero for five? It was quite unbelievable.”
With an overall lead of 200, Mumbai may well pull off a win on this lively wicket. But they will never forget 5-0. Nor will anyone who was at the Motibagh ground yesterday.
Lowest Totals in First Class Cricket in India
21: Muslims vs Europeans, Deccan Gymkhana, Pune, 1915-16 FoW: 1-0, 2-0, 3-0, 4-18, 5-18
22: Southern Punjab vs Northern India, Gandhi Sports Complex Ground, Amritsar, 1934-35 FoW: 1-2, 2-7, 3-7, 4-8, 5-8
23: Sind vs Southern Punjab, Dhruv Pandove Stadium, Patiala, 1938-39 1-4, 2-9, 3-12, 4-17, 5-17
23: Jammu & Kashmir vs Delhi, Amar Singh Club Ground, Srinagar, 1960-61 FoW: 1-4, 2-5, 3-8, 4-11, 5-12
23: Haryana vs Jammu & Kashmir, Motilal School of Sports, Rai, 1977-78 FoW: 1-2, 2-2, 3-3, 4-3, 5-7
24: Europeans vs Parsees, Bombay Gymkhana Ground, Bombay, 1894-95 FoW: 1-8, 2-9, 3-9, 4-9, 5-14
25: Bombay vs Saurashtra, Brabourne Stadium, Bombay, 1951-52 FoW: 1-1, 2-5, 3-6, 4-6, 5-13
27: Mysore vs Kerala, Central College Ground, Bangalore, 1963-64 FoW: 1-0, 2-0, 3-0, 4-0, 5-2
India were once 4-0 against England at Leeds in 1952 in a Test match.
— Mohandas Menon
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