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ShareMumbai: Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar -- the title track of the Aamir Khan starrer was blaring in the Mumbai dressing room after their 85-run win over Himachal Pradesh. After conceding the first innings lead, Mumbai fought back like champions. They declared on Thursday evening to set Himachal Pradesh a competitive target of 252. By Friday, 13 minutes before tea, Mumbai had knocked over Himachal Pradesh's resistance.
The day belonged to the young left-arm spinners -- Iqbal Abdulla and Harmeet Singh. A side strain meant senior off-spinner Ramesh Powar wouldn't take any part in this game.
Mumbai, the defending champions, had managed to bag just four points in their first two games. Jaffer had no option but to go for broke against Himachal Pradesh, more so after conceding the first innings lead. His spinners stuck to their task to ensure that their skipper's decision did not backfire.
Mumbai earned five points from this win. Resuming at the overnight score of four for no loss, Himachal Pradesh were bundled out for 166. Abdulla and Singh were disciplined and bagged three wickets each. The visitors got off to a shaky start when opener Sangram Singh was run out in the ninth over.
But the big blow came in the tenth over. Former Mumbai opener and last innings' hero Bhavin Thakkar was sent packing by medium-pacer Aavishkar Salvi. At lunch, the visitors were tottering at 66 for 3. The wicket had turned favourable to the spinners and Mumbai were moving in for the kill. Wickets fell at regular intervals. Sarandeep Singh (39) and Abhinav Bali (39) added 67 for the eighth wicket but it wasn't enough to turn the tide.
SCORECARD
Mumbai 1st innS: 162
HP 1st inns: 246
Mumbai 2nd inns: 335/7 decl.
HP 2nd inns (Target 252; O/N 4/0): B Thakkar c Samant b Salvi 11, S Singh run out (Sharma/Samant) 2, V Malik c Samant b Kulkarni 16, P Dogra c Samant b Harmeet 31, V Indulkar c Jaffer b Harmeet 19, M Sharma c & b Abdulla 2, A Mannu b Harmeet 0, A Bali c Samant b Abdulla 34, S Singh c Kulkarni b Abdulla 39, A Thakur b Agarkar4, J Mehtanot out 4; Extras: (LB1 NB3) 4
Total: (all out; 67 overs; 260 mins) 166 (2.47 runs per over); FoW: 1-13, 2-13, 3-40, 4-78, 5-83, 6-83, 7-87, 8-154, 9-158; Bowling: I Abdulla 19-6-61-3, A Agarkar 11-2-28-1 (NB1), D Kulkarni 9-5-14-1, A Salvi 5-3-11-1, H Singh 15-5-38-3, R Sharma 4-1-8-0, A Nayar 4-2-5-0 (NB2)
