Set a daunting target of 445 runs, Mumbai were 61 for no loss at stumps on day two of the semifinal at Bengaluru.
Shardul Thakur and Balwinder Singh Sandhu's fine display of bowling injected more drama into the Ranji Trophy semifinal which is headed for an exciting finish, with Mumbai needing 384 runs to beat defending champions Karnataka.
Set a daunting target of 445 runs, Mumbai were 61 for no loss at stumps on day two of the semifinal. Openers Aditya Tare (40) and Akhil Herwadkar (21) were in the middle with Mumbai still needing something special for a remarkable turnaround after they were dismissed for 44 in their first innings.
Mumbai fortunately have three more days to get those runs, and looking at the approach of Tare and Herwadkar, they seem to have a plan to go for the target in a calculated manner. On the flipside, Karnataka will fancy their chances to deal early blows.
Resuming at the overnight score of 10 for two, Karnataka were bundled out for 286 in their second innings, with nightwatchman Abhimanyu Mithun (89) and Ravi Kumar Samarth (58) scoring the bulk of runs.
Ranji Trophy: Mumbai hit new low; skittled out for 44 by Karnataka on Day One
Tare would have hoped to take early wickets to bring his team back into the game, but he could not as he apparently ran out of ideas, which was evident as Mithun made merry of the poor bowling attack. Surprisingly enough, Tare did not use star bowler Shardul Thakur early on, giving ample opportunity for Mithun and Samarth to take the game away from Mumbai, by stitching a speedy 149-run partnership for the third wicket.
Mithun rubbed salt over the wounds of Mumbai by cracking a career-best 89 off 113 balls, with 14 hits to the fence, before he was cleaned up by Thakur. At lunch, Karnataka were 161 for three in their second innings, 319 ahead of the visitors.
Resuming the score at 161 for three at lunch, Karnataka lost the plot after in-form Samarth was stumped brilliantly by Tare off Sandhu for 58. Manish Pandey and Karun Nair put on 61 runs for the fifth wicket and took the hosts' total to 222.
Nair did not last long as he was caught by Tare behind the stumps off Sandhu, after making a useful 28 with five hits over the ropes, leaving Karnataka at 222 for five. After the departure of Nair, the Mumbai bowlers ran through the Karnataka innings by scalping the last five wickets after conceding 64 runs.
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