Mumbai captain Ajinkya Rahane has returned amongst runs as he scored a fifty in the final of the Ranji Trophy against Vidarbha on day 2 of the clash at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Rahane, whose form has come under scrutiny for his state side, remained unbeaten on 58 along with Musheer Khan, who made 51*. Mumbai are in the driver's seat after the end of the second day as they lead their opponents by 260 runs and have two wickets in hand in the third innings.
After getting Vidarbha 31/3 at the end of the first day, the 41-time champions Mumbai got Vidarbha all-out for 105 and took a 119-run lead. Then their batters joined the party. While openers Prithvi Shaw and Bhupen Lalwani went early, Rahane and Musheer took the charge. The two played notched the partnership of 107* and took Mumbai to 141/2 at the stumps.
The day started with Mumbai cleaning Vidarbha. Playing in his last match, Dhawal Kulkarni started the flow of wickets when he got overnight opener Atharva Taide caught behind before Shams Mulani and Tanush Kotian went berserk. Mulani cleaned the middle-order as he took three wickets in three consecutive overs, removing Aditya Thakare, Akshay Wadkar and Harsh Dubey. Yash Rathod, who was the highest-run scorer of the innings at 27 was cleaned up by Kotian. The off-spinner Kotian then cleaned off the tail pretty soon. Yash Thakur holed out to mid-off, while Umesh Yadav was caught at long-on off Kotian's bowling as the visitors got bowled out for 105.
Rahane and Musheer stabilised things after the initial jitters. They negotiated a brilliant bowling spell from Umesh Yadav. Musheer was not in his zone initially but settled down soon. The two remain unbeaten and the hosts have plenty of more batting to come in the form of Shreyas Iyer, Hardik Tamore, Shams Mulani, and Shardul Thakur.
Mumbai Playing XI:
Prithvi Shaw, Bhupen Lalwani, Musheer Khan, Ajinkya Rahane (c), Shreyas Iyer, Hardik Tamore (wk), Shams Mulani, Shardul Thakur, Tanush Kotian, Tushar Deshpande, Dhawal Kulkarni
Vidarbha Playing XI:
Atharva Taide, Dhruv Shorey, Aman Mokhade, Karun Nair, Yash Rathod, Akshay Wadkar (c & wk), Aditya Sarwate, Umesh Yadav, Harsh Dubey, Yash Thakur, Aditya Thakare
