Ranji Trophy: Skipper Ajinkya Rahane, Musheer Khan’s masterclass makes Vidarbha bowlers toil

Mumbai: Skipper Ajinkya Rahane and youngster Musheer Khan’s blitz ensured Mumbai ended Day 2 on top against Vidarbha in the Ranji Trophy final at the Wankhede Stadium on Monday.

At the end of the stumps, Mumbai posted 141/2 with Rahane and Musheer unbeaten with scores of 58(109) and 51(135) respectively. After a clinical performance with the ball early in the day, Mumbai batters set out to extend their 119-run lead. Prithvi Shaw (11) once again failed to leave a mark after Yash Thakur breached his defence with a 133.4kph delivery.

Bhupen Lalwani followed in the footsteps of Shaw a couple of overs later with spinner Harsh Dubey removing the opener for a score of 18(38).

From that point, Rahane and Musheer stitched up an unbeaten 107-run stand to put Mumbai in complete control of the final.

Rahane and Musheer played with a perfect blend of aggression as well as composure. Both batters took their time to settle on the field and occasionally went for a boundary to ease off the pressure.

The Mumbai skipper completed his 50 in 88 deliveries while Musheer reached the 50-run mark in 132 balls. Mumbai ended the day with a healthy lead of 260 runs. Their masterclass with the bat made Vidarbha bowlers toil hard for the majority of the second and third sessions.

Earlier in the innings, Vidarbha resumed the day with a score of 31/3 looking to bounce back after stumbling at the end of Day 1. Vidarbha lost seven wickets in a span of 28 overs with the spin duo of Shams Mulani and Tanush Kotian removing the middle-order batters to put Mumbai in the driver’s seat. Apart from Yash Rathod (27) the rest of the batters struggled to get off to a decent start.

Brief Score: Mumbai 224 & 141/2 (Ajinkya Rahane 58*, Musheer Khan 51*; Yash Thakur 1/25) vs Vidarbha 105 (Yash Rathod 27; Shams Mulani 3/32, Tanush Kotian 3/7). (ANI)

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