Parthiv Patel (90) and Manprit Juneja’s (77) knocks helped Gujarat to a first innings lead in the ongoing Ranji Trophy 2016-17 final in Indore. When play ended on Day 2, Gujarat were leading by 63 runs with four wickets in hand as Chirag Gandhi (17*) and Rush Kalaria (16*) saw the team through to the end of day’s play.
Earlier, resuming the day on two without loss, a brilliant diving catch by Surya Kumar Yadav in the slips sent back Samit Gohil. The opener had nicked Shardul Thakur to the slips with 11 on the board. 26 runs later, Abhishek Nayar drew an edge from Priyank Panchal to the wicketkeeper to give Mumbai another crucial breakthrough in the morning. The defending champions however were not able to capitalise on the early advantage as Parthiv joined Bhargav Merai in the middle. The Gujarat captain survived on 20 having nicked a Shardul Thakur delivery as the pacer had over-stepped. The pair then took the team to Lunch at 73 for two.
In the first half of the second session, Nayar forced an edge from Merai through to the wicketkeeper with Gujarat on 106 for three. Parthiv then continued to glean runs off the Mumbai attack with Manprit Juneja for company. The pair stitched a 120-run stand which helped the side script a solid reply for Mumbai. Juneja, who had replaced the No 3 bat in the middle, was let off at short mid-wicket by Shreyas Iyer off Nayar while on 15. The middle-order bat, who has been in good nick through the season went on to anchor the innings to a first innings lead during his 95-ball stay at the crease. Lapses in the field proved expensive as the batsmen seized the initiative from Mumbai.
In the final session of the day, Mumbai got three wickets. With two runs required to level scores with Mumbai, Parthiv departed edging Nayar to Aditya Tare behind the stumps. With Rujul Bhatt, Juneja then took the team to 254 before he was sent back by Thakur. 10 runs later, Balwinder Sandhu accounted for the No 6 bat. Mumbai’s woes in the field continued as Gandhi and Kalaria took the team to stumps in a 27-run stand unbroken stand.
Brief scores:
Day 1 - Mumbai 1st inn 228/10 in 83.5 overs (P Shaw 71, SK Yadav 57, R Bhatt 2/5, CT Gaja 2/46, RP Singh 2/48); Gujarat 1st inn 2/0 in 1 over. Trail by 22r runs
Day 2 – Gujarat 1st inn 291/6 in 92 overs (P Patel 90, M Juneja 77, C Gandhi 17*, R Kalaria 16*, A Nayar 3/91, S Thakur 2/67) Lead by 63 runs
