Sushant Marathe hits a timely 108 to give Mumbai a bonus point against Baroda in the Vijay Hazare Trophy; visitors win by 108 runs.
Mumbai may not have been that successful in the shorter version but this time, it seems, they will leave no stone unturned. They made their intentions clear in the first outing itself, when they brushed aside Baroda’s challenge — sans Irfan Pathan — by 108 runs to win with a bonus in their West Zone Vijay Hazare Trophy match at Motera C ground on Wednesday.
Baroda were jolted by the junior Pathan’s unavailability. He picked up a side strain during practice on the eve of the match, but was officially ruled out just before the toss.
Baroda captain Pinal Shah’s decision to put Mumbai into bat boomeranged as Munaf Patel, even after getting some lateral movement, failed to strike. He was tackled well by openers Sushant Marathe and Ajinkya Rahane. Their first wicket stand added a vital 138 in over 26 overs. Rahane (66) completed his half century while Jaffer, as if proving a point, played an enterprising innings of 78 from just 61 balls. Marathe complemented well with his sedate innings of 108 (off 123 balls) before perishing. He played some true cricketing shots.
The opener reached the three-figure mark through a single on the leg side. After century, Marathe, attempting to accelerate, fell prey to Munaf.
Capitalising on the sound start, Abhishek Nayar took Baroda bowlers to the cleaners. His unbeaten 49 off 22 saw Mumbai crossing 300-run mark. Nayar had four hits to the fences and three towering sixes.
Mumbai capitalised on Baroda’s inexperienced bowling and finished at 328-5 in the allotted 50 overs. Baroda, chasing a mammoth target, found it hard to get going. Pinal fell to Dhaval Kulkarni, who bowled a disciplined line all through. But Mumbai also survived a few scary moments, particularly, when Rakesh Solanki (94 off 127b; 10x4) and Yusuf Pathan (23 off 19b; 2x4, 1x6) were going great guns. In fact Yusuf started off with a huge six which fell in the adjacent ground.
Once again Kulkarni’s golden arm gave the much-needed breakthrough for Mumbai. He trapped Yusuf in front of the stumps before his fellow bowlers wrapped up the proceedings. Baroda were eventually bundled out for 220 in 49th.
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