“I won the bet.” Shardul Thakur told R. Sai Kishore while exchanging a high-five minutes after the end of the second day’s play of the Ranji Trophy semifinal on Sunday.
While Sai Kishore reminded him that it was only for T20s, both had a hearty laugh over it. The bet, one was later informed, was that Shardul will “smash him when I face him in a match.”
On a day that was highlighted by the individual brilliance of both the all-rounders, Shardul overshadowed Sai Kishore at the Sharad Pawar Cricket Academy ground, with Mumbai’s lower order taking the game away from the opposition.
Sai Kishore on song
Shardul Thakur’s (109, 105b, 13x4, 4x6) maiden First-Class hundred and his partnerships with Hardik Tamore (105 for the eighth wicket) and Tanush Kotian (79 for the ninth) put Mumbai in command after R. Sai Kishore (six for 97) had Mumbai in trouble.
Kotian (74) and Tushar Deshpande’s unbroken 63-run stand rubbed salt into Tamil Nadu’s wounds as Mumbai was 353 for nine at stumps, an advantage of 207 runs.
The star of the day was Shardul. He bailed Mumbai out of trouble with a fearless yet masterful knock. When he took guard, with just 13 minutes remaining for lunch, Sai Kishore was on the rampage, having picked up four wickets in the morning to shatter another record. Mumbai, at that stage, was 106 for seven and in danger of conceding the lead.
Shardul didn’t waste time in showing his intent, hitting him for two fours. Even after lunch, he continued to go after the TN captain whose marathon spell was a treat to watch. While no other Mumbai batter was comfortable against him, Shardul scored 44 runs off the 37 balls he faced the lanky spinner.
He was dismissed after he reached his landmark with a one-bounced four as Jagadeesan — who had effected a brilliant stumping in the morning — took a lunging catch.
While the last two sessions belonged to Mumbai, Tamil Nadu dominated the morning session. Sai Kishore bowled unchanged from the club house end. Despite an overcast morning, he used the dampness to his advantage and broke the back of Mumbai’s middle-order.
Barring Shreyas Iyer — who played on to Sandeep Warrier early on in his innings — Sai Kishore earned all of Mumbai’s five wickets.
The scores:
Tamil Nadu — 1st innings: 146.
Mumbai — 1st innings: Prithvi Shaw c Indrajith b Kuldeep Sen 5, Bhupen Lalwani lbw b Sai Kishore 15, Musheer Khan st Jagadeesan b Sai Kishore 55, Mohit Avasthi st Jagadeesan b Sai Kishore 2, Ajinkya Rahane c Indrajith b Sai Kishore 19, Shreyas Iyer b Warrier 3, Hardik Tamore c Washington b Sai Kishore 35, Shams Mulani b Sai Kishore 0, Shardul Thakur c Jagadeesan b Kuldeep Sen 109, Tanush Kotian (batting) 74, Tushar Deshpande (batting) 17; Extras (lb-12, nb-2, pen-5): 19; Total (for nine wkts. in 100 overs): 353.
Fall of wickets: 1-5, 2-40, 3-48, 4-91, 5-96, 6-107, 7-106, 8-211, 9-290.
Tamil Nadu bowling: Warrier 18-0-66-1, Kuldeep Sen 15-0-65-2, Mohammed 8-2-21-0, Sai Kishore 37-9-97-6, Ajith Ram 14-1-68-0, Washington 7-0-19-0, Pradosh 1-1-0-0.
