Shreyas Iyer carried on his excellent form this season with a blazing 90 off just 104 balls to power Mumbai to 327/7 against Madhya Pradesh in the semi-final encounter in Cuttack. Put into bat, Iyer gave yet another account of his batting prowess and his ability to score at a brisk pace. In the other semi-final at Baroda, Saurashtra's left-arm fast bowlers Jaydev Unadkat and Hardik Rathod reduced Assam to 193/7 after electing to bowl first.
A brief recap of Day One
Semi-final 1: Saurashtra v Assam: Assam 1st inns 193/7 (Amit Verma 74 not out, Hardik Rathod 3/37, Jaydev Unadkat 3/60)
Batting has been a weak point for Assam this season and Sarurashtra pounced on the opportunity to test Assam batsmen after electing to bowl first on a wicket that offered even bounce and carry. Left-arm seamers Jaydev Unadkat and Hardik Rathod picked three wickets each to reduce Assam to 193/7 at Stumps on Day One.
Making first use of the track, Rathod, playing just the second game this season, struck on the first ball of his second over to remove opener Rahul Hazarika for zero. From the other end, Unadkat got through the defence of Gokul Sharma as Assam were left reeling at 15/2.
Rathod then picked his second wicket when he trapped Pallav Kumar Das with a brilliant delivery as Saurashtra surged ahead, having taken three wickets for 25.
In desperate need of a partnership, Assam were given a shot in the arm when KB Arun Karthik and Amit Verma showed enough patience to grind the attack. Adjusting according to the situation, the two showed no hurry as Assam went to Lunch without the loss of any further wickets. The second session too was a quiet one with Assam opting for safety over exuberance. Karthik brought up his 15th first-class fifty in 120 balls with Assam playing out the second session without any trouble.
Verma brought up his half-century in 151 balls, but the crucial partnership was ended when Rathod picked up his third and perhaps the most crucial wicket. Karthik’s patient 144-ball knock was ended when he was bowled in the 62nd over. Right-arm medium pace, Deepak Punia then removed Tarjinder Singh for five in the next over as Saurashtra bounced back. Late in the day, Undakat dismissed all-rounder and Assam’s reliable bat, Syed Mohammed before accounting for Sarupam Purkayastha
Semi-final 2: Madhya Pradesh v Mumbai: Mum 1st inns 327/7 in 89 overs (Shreyas Iyer 90, Aditya Tare 68, Siddhesh Lad 57 not out, Chandrakant Sakure 4/102)
Mumbai captain Aditya Tare made a fighting 68 after missing the quarterfinal clash owing to an injury while Shreyas Iyer fell short of his fourth ton by 10 runs this season to guide Mumbai to 327/7. Asked to bat first, Mumbai included Bhavin Thakkar who last played a first-class game in 2013. Thakkar and Iyer added 88 for the second wicket after opener Akhil Herwadkar returned back in the 11th over.
While Mumbai may seem to be ahead at the end of day’s play, Madhya Pradesh need to thank Chandrakant Sakure for not allowing Mumbai to completely dominate them on the first day. Playing only his second game, the right-arm medium fast took four wickets, including that of Iyer from his 25 overs. He removed Mumbai’s top-three and later got rid of plucky Iqbal Abdulla down the order.
Ishwar Pandey once again kept it tight, giving away just 34 runs from 19 overs. He bowled six maiden overs and picked up two wickets. It was Pandey, who broke the 75-run stand for the sixth wicket between Siddhesh Lad (57 not out) and Abhishek Nayar (43) when he caught the latter off his own bowling.
