Shreyas Iyer may have literally toyed with the Tamil Nadu bowlers in the last session. But in the larger context of the game, the innings of the Tamil Nadu duo of B. Indrajith and V. Yo Mahesh proved decisive as the visitors snatched the lead against Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy Group C tie.
Thanks to Indrajith’s 152 (247b, 14x4) and Yo Mahesh’s maiden century (103 n.o., 216b, 9x4, 4x6) on his return to First Class cricket after almost five years, Tamil Nadu overhauled Mumbai’s first innings total of 374 after lunch on the penultimate day here on Thursday.
Soon after Tamil Nadu started the day at 239 for five, despite Indrajith carrying on from his unbeaten hundred, Mumbai bowlers struck at the other end.
Pace spearhead Dhawal Kulkarni got R. Ashwin to nick to Prithvi Shaw at gully in the second over of the day, while N. Jagadeesan was bowled around the leg while attempting to sweep left-arm spinner Vijay Gohil.
At 287 for seven, Mumbai was favourite to pocket three points. However, Yo Mahesh looked very comfortable at the crease, hitting the left-arm spin duo of Gohil and Aditya Dhumal over the fence.
Indrajith, meanwhile, continued to rotate the strike with Mumbai deciding to wait for a mistake at the other end.
However, it eventually came from Indrajith. Moments after crossing the 150-mark, Indrajith edged Gohil and Siddhesh Lad latched on to a sharp chance close to the ground.
Scoring at will
Then on, with Rahil Shah blocking one end, Yo Mahesh decided to take charge. The all-rounder, who wasn’t even in the probables at the start of the season, scored at will against all the Mumbai bowlers.
The most important of his nine fours and four sixes came an hour after lunch as a six over mid-wicket was followed up with a sweep for four off Gohil that fetched Yo Mahesh his fifty and Tamil Nadu the lead.
A tired Mumbai attack kept offering freebies to TN batsmen and Yo Mahesh ensured that he not only got past his previous best of 81 scored against Maharashtra in 2012-13, but also notched up a memorable hundred.
Having conceded a lead of 76, Mumbai was in a slight spot of bother when Prithvi succumbed to a Vijay Shankar yorker early on.
However, Shreyas then tormented the TN attack, first hitting Ashwin for a couple of sixes over wide long-on and then hitting two towering ones off Shankar in one over, including one that landed on the club house roof.
The scores: Mumbai — 1st innings: 374.
Tamil Nadu — 1st innings: Abhinav Mukund b Parkar 9, M. Vijay c Tare b Gohil 11, Kaushik Gandhi b Nayar 6, B. Indrajith c Lad b Gohil 152, Vijay Shankar st Tare b Gohil 18, M.S. Washington Sundar c Suryakumar b Kulkarni 69, R. Ashwin c Prithvi b Kulkarni 13, N. Jagadeesan b Gohil 21, V. Yo Mahesh (not out) 103, Rahit Shah c Tare b Parkar 17, K. Vignesh b Dhumal 16; Extras (nb-2, w-2, b-4, lb-7): 15; Total (in 142 overs): 450.
Fall of wickets: 1-14, 2-32, 3-34, 4-69, 5-226, 6-244, 7-287, 8-339, 9-411.
Mumbai bowling: Dhawal Kulkarni 26-9-50-2, Akash Parkar 16-1-74-2, Abhishek Nayar 23-6-69-1, Vijay Gohil 43-5-129-4, Aditya Dhumal 25-3-103-1, Shreyas Iyer 4-1-3-0, Akhil Herwadkar 5-1-11-0.
Mumbai — 2nd innings: Prithvi Shaw b Shankar 5, Akhil Herwadkar (batting) 24, Shreyas Iyer (batting) 56; Total (for one wkt. in 22 overs): 85.
Fall of wicket: 1-6.
Tamil Nadu bowling: Vijay Shankar 5-1-27-1, R. Ashwin 7-1-27-0, Rahil Shah 4-2-17-0, K. Vignesh 5-1-10-0, Washington Sundar 1-0-4-0.