Gujarat got their noses ahead at the end of the first day of the Ranji Trophy final on Tuesday after Parthiv Patel elected to bowl first on an Indore wicket that contained a tinge of grass. Defending champions Mumbai were shot out for 228 as RP Singh and Gujarat’s other pacers stuck to their task in a disciplined manner. Gujarat were 2/0 at the close of play.
Building on from a match-winning century in the semi-final against Tamil Nadu, Mumbai’s 17-year-old opener Prithvi Shaw (71) shone with the bat once again, displaying compact technique and finding the boundaries at will. Shaw and Suryakumar Yadav (57) built a 52-run stand for the second wicket. All the Gujarat bowlers chipped in with wickets with RP Singh, Chintan Gaja and Rujul Bhatt taking a couple each.
Despite the absence of Jasprit Bumrah, the Gujarat pacers, led by left-armers RP Singh and Rush Kalaria bowled their hearts out. Gaja effected two crucial breakthroughs, getting rid of the dangerous Shreyas Iyer and the well-set Yadav. Aditya Tare’s side lost their way in the second session, losing four wickets to undo the hard work of Shaw and Yadav at the top of the order.
Bhatt’s harmless off-spinners yielded a couple of wickets. Abhishek Nayar (35) cracked a few boundaries with the help of Vijay Gohil at the other end. Nayar was also culpable of triggering a needless run out. Gujarat batted just one over before stumps was called.
Brief scores:
Mumbai 228 (Prithvi Shaw 71, Suryakumar Yadav 52, Abhishek Yadav 35; Rujul Bhatt 2/5, Chintan Gaja 2/46, RP Singh 2/48) lead Gujarat 2/0 (Samit Gohel 2 not out) by 226 runs