Cricket: Mumbai trio lead recovery

Half centuries each from Siddhesh Lad (86, 154b, 13x4), Neelkanth Parab (77no, 159b, 5x4, 1x6) and Harmeet Singh (74no, 80b, 11x4,1x6) saw Mumbai finish Day One on top against Baroda in U-19 Cooch Behar Trophy, being played at the MCA’s BKC ground on Saturday.

The hosts were 335 for six in 90 overs with Parab and Singh at the crease. Chirag Desai scalped three while Teekam Thenua took two wickets for Baroda.

Having put in to bat, Mumbai were off to a shaky start. The hosts lost openers — Akarshit Gomel (4) and Aditya Jagtap (2) — as the scoreboard read 13/2.  One-drop Shashank Singh (32), too, could not capitalise on a good start. However, it was down to Viraj Parab (41) and Lad. The duo added 55 runs for the fourth wicket, before Desai dismissed Parab with 121/4 on board

Later, Lad and Neelkanth  did a good job to help Mumbai cross the 200-run mark. Lad, who looked set for another big score, got out  for 86 by giving a simple catch to extra cover fielder Devan Patel off Desai.
Neelkanth and Harmeet took the responsibility in their hands and successfully guided Mumbai to 335 for 6 at the end of the day with an unbeaten 112-run partnership.

Of  the two, Harmeet was aggressive slamming eleven fours and a six while Neelkanth played the role of an accumulator.

“I have been working on my batting hence this was the right opportunity to show my batting skills,” said Harmeet.

Brief score: Mumbai 335/6 (S Lad 86, N Parab 77*, H Singh 74*, V Parab 41, C Desai 3/60, T Thenua 2/68)