Elegance seldom meets aggression. And that is exactly what happened at the CCI on Tuesday when Rohit Sharma plundered an unblemished, unbeaten 145 to guide Mumbai to 352 for three against Gujarat at stumps on Day One of their final Ranji Trophy Super League game.
Sharma was ably assisted by left-handed anchorman Sushant Marathe (105) who was giving company to Rohit (4x20, 6x3) till close.
The day didn’t begin well for the hosts, even as Gujarat captain Parthiv Patel made a blunder by inviting Mumbai to bat.
The hosts lost their first wicket in the very first over of the day when Sahil Kukreja was castled by Ishwar Choudhury in the last ball of his first over. Ajinkya Rahane then steadied the ship, partnering Marathe, and added 99 for the second wicket.
Rahane was eventually bowled through the gates by Tatsat Brahmbhatt at his individual score of 56.
But at this juncture, when the balance started tilting towards Mumbai and Gujarat bowlers were looking tired, Rahane’s exit gave an impetus to the visitors. In the meantime, Marathe was dropped once at square leg.
Enter Mumbai captain Wasim Jaffer, who too looked to carry on his fairytale in the Ranji Trophy but a bad shot brought his downfall.
With Mumbai scorecard reading 131 for three, the stage was left for Rohit to showcase his batting brilliance once again. And he did it with finesse. He came to the wicket, gauged the pace and conquered it completely. In the initial overs also, he didn’t have any hiccup dealing with any bowler. He reached his hundred in 139 minutes smashing 15 fours and a couple of sixes.
With the wicket slowing down, Rohit adjusted his game well. He never tried any outrageous shot but even then went after the bowling given the slightest opportunity.
Gujarat bowling sans Siddharth Trivedi, Ashraf Makda and Mohnish Parmar looked toothless. Choudhury though was the pick of the bowlers, claiming 2/66.
Rohit, however, looked quite satisfied after this innings but didn’t rate this as his best. “Innings against Railways is my best till date. The conditions were just the opposite…the wicket there was assisting the bowlers and I had to be careful every ball,” Rohit said. But here he had tried to apply himself. “I tried from the first delivery to apply myself which I wasn’t doing in the last few games (barring Railways match).”
SCORECARD
Mumbai 1st innings: S Kukreja b Choudhary 4; S Marathe batting 105; A Rahane b Brahmbhatt 56; W Jaffer b Choudhary 23; R Sharma batting 145; Extras: (B1, W10, NB8): 19; Total: (3 wickets; 90 overs) 352; Fall of wickets: 1/6 (Kukreja), 2/105 (Rahane), 3/131 (Jaffer); Bowling: Choudhary 17-4-66-2, Brahmbhatt 19-4-88-1, M Patel 23-9-60-0, Yadav 26-1-102-0, N Patel 3-0-21-0, Desai 2-0-14-0.
Comments