Shoaib Shaikh has been a consistent performer at the local level. He has been through all kinds of testing situations and has emerged supreme. So when Mumbai required strong nerves in a precarious condition against Saurashtra, the 25-year-old debutant rose to the occasion with a sensible knock of 83 and guided the hosts through.
Chasing 251, the match went down to the wire with 19 required off the last two overs. With two wickets left, it was a daunting task for a well-settled Iqbal Abdullah and the new batsman Dhaval Kulkarni.
Saurashtra captain Cheteshwar Pujara brought in experienced medium-pacer Siddharth Trivedi to get the job done. However, Kulkarni held his nerve and hit him for 15 runs in the 49th over and sealed the match for Mumbai. The victory puts Mumbai in the knockout stage of the Vijay Hazare Trophy.
Mumbai began poorly, with Ajinkya Rahane, Sushant Marathe, Abhishek Nayar and Suryakumar Yadav getting out with the score at 41. Anup Revandkar (45) and Shaikh then built a crucial 73-run partnership before the former was run out for 45 with the score at 114.
Revandkar’s dismissal brought captain Ajit Agarkar to the field and he made 28. His dismissal left Mumbai tottering at 157 for six. A crucial half-century partnership between Abdullah and Shoaib Shaikh gave Mumbai a hope to chase.
Shaikh’s innings, however, ended in the 48th over when he went for a lofted shot that landed in the hands of mid-wicket fielder Chirag Jani.
Earlier, half-centuries from Sagar Jogiyani (67), Jani (79*) and Kamlesh Makvana (54*) saw Saurashtra reach 251. For Mumbai, medium pacer Kshemal Waingankar was the most successful bowler with three for 21.
Scorecard
Saurashtra: S Jogiyani c Marathe b Waingankar 67, S Kotak lbw b Revandkar 15, A Vasavada c Marathe b Waingankar 17, C Pujara c Rahane b Kulkarni 5, S Jackson c Marathe b Waingankar 0 ,
K Raval lbw b Chavan 4, C Jani not out 79 , K Makvana not out 54
Extras: (LB2, W8) 10
Total: (6 wickets; 50 overs) 251
FoW: 1-57, 2-96, 3-109, 4-109,
5-113, 6-116
Bowling: A Agarkar 9-0-76-0 (2W), D Kulkarni 10-3-48-1 (1W), I Abdullah 6-0-48-0 (1W), A Revandkar 3-0-12-1, K Waingankar 10-1-21-3 (3W), A Chavan 9-0-35-1, A Nayar 3-0-9-0
Mumbai: A Rahane lbw b Trivedi 13, S Marathe b Maniar 0, A Nayar lbw b Maniar 21, A Revandkar run out (Kotak) 45, S Yadav run out 4, S Shaikh c Jani b Makvana 83, A Agarkar c Vasavada b Makvana 28, A Chavan c Trivedi b Doshi 7, I Abdullah not out 29, D Kulkarni c Jogiyani b Maniar 15, K Waingankar not out 1
Extras: (W6) 6
Total: (9 wickets; 49.4 overs) 252
FoW: 1-2, 2-37, 3-37, 4-41, 5-114,
6-157, 7-177, 8-230), 9-251
Bowling: S Trivedi 8-0-61-1 (2W), S Maniar 9.4-0-34-3 (2W), N Doshi 9-0-28-1, S Kotak 6-0-23-0 (1W), C Jani 7-0-54-0 (1W), K Makvana 10-0-52-2
