Powar gives Mumbai the edge

Mumbai off-spinner Ramesh Powar's five-wicket haul reduced Gujarat to 190 for 8 in the second innings to give the visitors a slight edge on day three of the Ranji Trophy Elite Group A match at Motera on Thursday.

Powar took four of his five wickets after tea including the wicket of  the dangerous looking Niraj Patel, who made an impressive 72 in difficult conditions.

Earlier in the day, Mumbai were bowled out in their first innings for 207, taking a first innings lead of seven runs.

Spinner Jayesh Makala playing in only his second match, took 4 for 25 runs in 22 overs to finish as the most successful bowler for Gujarat.

Gujarat began their second essay on a disastrous note with opener Parthiv Patel being dismissed by Aaviskar Salvi for just five in the third over of the innings.

Salvi then packed off the second opener Nilesh Modi (15) just before lunch to leave Gujarat tottering at 39 for two.

When Powar came in to bowl in the post-lunch session, he had a confident looking Azar Bilakia (22) caught and bowled to reduce Gujarat to 51 for 3.

But a 71-run fourth wicket partnership between Niraj Patel and Gujarat captain Mukund Parmar took their team past the 100-run mark.

The partnership which lasted for 167 balls was finally broken by Abhishek Nair in the 52nd over of the innings.

Parmar, who was the fourth wicket to fall, made 34 with six boundaries. Things could have been much worse for Gujarat if Niraj who while batting on 14 was not dropped by Sushant Marathe at short leg in the 29th over.

Powar took five for 47 in 23.5 overs in the second innings to add to his four wickets in the first innings.

Scorecard:

Mumbai 1st innings (Overnight score: 195-8)
S Kukreja c P Patel b Trivedi 12
V Samant b Makda 39
S Marathe c & b Makla 23
A Muzumdar c Bilakhia b Makda 64
V Indulkar lbw b Majmudar 0
N Shetty b Makla 2
R Powar lbw b Makla 19
A Nair c sub b Majmudar 0
N Kulkarni lbw b Makla 14
S Hazare c P Patel b Makda
A Salvi not out 3

Extras (lb 14, nb 15) 29

Total (all out in 97 overs) 207

Fall of wickets: 1-36, 2-69, 3-103, 4-110, 5-131, 6-161, 7-163, 8-192, 9-203, 10-207.

Bowling: S Trivedi 25-5-48-1, A Makda 26-11-65-3, H Majmudar 24-8-55-2, J Makla 22-7-25-4.

Gujarat 2nd innings
N Modi c Indulkar b Salvi 15
P Patel lbw b Salvi 5
A Bilakhia c & b Powar 22
N Patel c Salvi b Powar 72
M Parmar c Samant b Nair 34
A Brahmehtt c Samant b Powar 14
H Watekar not out 14
S Trivedi c Kukreja b Powar 8
H Majmudar c Salvi b Powar 2

Extras (lb 2, w 1, nb 1) 4

Total (for 8 wickets in 74.5 overs) 190

Fall of wickets: 1-7, 2-39, 3-51, 4-122, 5-164, 6-165, 7-185, 8-190.

Bowling: A Salvi 12-3-35-2, S Hazare 13-5-27-0, A Nair 11-3-30-1, R Powar 23.5-7-49-5, N Kulkarni 14-2-46-0, A Muzumdar 1-0-1-0.