Nagpur: Veteran Wasim Jaffer slammed a century to propel hosts Vidarbha to an imposing 389 for 4 against Mumbai on the opening day of their Elite Ranji Trophy Group A game here Sunday. It was business as usual for 40-year-old Jaffer as he made 178 in 196 balls against his former team at the VIdarbha Cricket Association Stadium. The right-handed batsman completed his 56th first-class century in the process. Jaffer and one down Atharva Taide (95 in 128 balls) justified Vidarbha skipper Faiz Fazal’s decision to bat first as they took Mumbai bowlers to task. After in-form Fazal (1) had a rare failure, Jaffer and Taide steadied the Vidarbha ship by conjuring a massive 199-run stand for the second wicket.
Mumbai used as many as eight bowlers in the day but barring Dhurmil Matkar (3-92) all others had an off day. Mumbai’s hopes were pinned on pace duo of Shardul Thakur (1-68) and Tushar Deshpande (0-57), who were returning to cricket after injuries, but they could not deliver. Jaffer struck 22 fours and two sixes in his 196-ball knock. While the veteran batsman brought up his hundred in just 85 balls, he completed his 150 in 161 balls. After Taide fell, Jaffer and Ganesh Satish (77 not out) took the hosts ahead.
However, Jaffer could not complete a deserving double hundred, being caught by wicket-keeper Aditya Tare off Dhurmil Matkar. At stumps Satish and M R Kale (33 not out) were holding fort as Vidarbha is looking poised for a big first innings score. The 41-time Ranji champions Mumbai need outright win to stay alive in the coveted domestic tournament. Hosts Maharashtra were bundled out for 230 by Gujarat with middle order batsman Ruturaj Gaikwad top scoring with 70. Skipper Rahul Tripathi chipped in with a valuable 62.
Brief Scores: Vidarbha 389-4 (Wasim Jaffer 178, Atharva Taide 95, Ganesh Satish 77 not out, Dl Matkar 3-92) against Mumbai; Maharashtra 230 all out (Rj Gaikwad 70, Rahul Tripathi 62, C T Gaja 5-57, Piyush Chawla 3-39) against Gujarat 41/0.; Karnataka 273-4 (Dega Nischal 107 not out, Siddharth K V 105, Manish Pandey 40, Pankaj Rao 4-38) against Chhattisgarh.; Baroda 289-6 (Krunal Pandya 160, Mitesh Patel 55 not out, Amit Mishra 4-65) against Railways