Cricket

Mumbai's bold strategy of fielding only four specialist bowlers in their Ranji Trophy Elite Group A match against Odisha paid off handsomely as the bowling quartet delivered a dominant performance, putting Mumbai on the cusp of earning a bonus point.On Friday, the bowling group led by left-arm spinner Shams Mulani and Himanshu Singh restricted Odisha to 285 in their first innings, adding only 139 runs to their overnight tally. Mulani, who returned with a six-wicket haul, ran through the visitor's lower order, while Himanshu chipped in with three wickets.After skipper Ajinkya Rahane enforced the follow-on, the spin duo of Mulani and Himanshu continued to torment Odisha, reducing them to 126 for five at stumps. Had Aashirwad Swain not edged Himanshu to Rahane in the slips off the last ball of the day, Odisha may have hoped to bat out the final day.The quartet, especially Mulani and Himanshu, toiled tirelessly on day three. Of the 87.3 overs bowled, they accounted for 57.3 overs and shared nine of the 10 wickets that fell.Despite being tonked for three sixes in two overs in the morning session, including one that helped Sandeep Pattanaik celebrate his fifth First-Class hundred, Mulani made a strong comeback. Once Pattanaik played onto the stumps, the left-arm spinner raced to his 15th five-wicket haul.If substitute wicketkeeper Sidhaant Addhatrao, who donned the gloves for an unwell Hardik Tamore, had not dropped a thick edge off Debabrata Pradhan's blade to deprive Shardul Thakur a wicket early on, Mumbai would have fancied their chances of wrapping up the game with a day to spare.

Mumbai's batters put on a dominant display in their Ranji Trophy Elite Group A match against Odisha, posting a mammoth total of 602 for four before their bowlers tightened the noose around the visitors' neck.Shreyas Iyer and Siddhesh Lad were the stars of the show for Mumbai, forging a record-breaking fourth-wicket partnership of 354 runs. Iyer, known for his aggressive batting, smashed 24 fours and nine sixes in his innings of 233, while Lad played a more patient role, contributing 169 not out with 17 fours.The duo's partnership was the highest fourth-wicket stand for Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy, surpassing the previous record of 336 set by Wasim Jaffer and Amol Muzumdar in 2006. It also marked the first time that two Mumbai batters had scored double centuries in the same innings of a Ranji Trophy match.Mumbai's innings was further boosted by a cameo from Suryansh Shedge, who smashed 79 not out off just 36 balls, including seven fours and six sixes. The declaration came 20 minutes after lunch, with Mumbai's total standing at an imposing 602 for four.Odisha's bowlers struggled to contain Mumbai's onslaught, with only Himanshu Singh extracting some bounce and turn from the pitch. Singh picked up two wickets, while Suryakant Samantray and Debabrata Pradhan claimed one each.In response, Odisha's openers Anurag Sarangi and Swastik Samal made a steady start, putting on 39 runs for the first wicket. However, Shardul Thakur broke the partnership by dismissing Samal for a duck.Sarangi and Govinda Poddar then added 39 runs for the second wicket before Himanshu struck again, trapping Sarangi lbw for 39. The dismissal triggered a mini-collapse, as Mumbai picked up three wickets for two runs in 16 balls.Odisha's innings was eventually halted at 146 for five, with Sandeep Pattanaik (73 not out) providing some resistance. The onus will be on Pattanaik to stretch the innings on the third morning and wear out Mumbai's four specialist bowlers as much as possible.