Mumbai continue their rapid rise

Replying to Mumbai's mammoth total of 515 runs for 8 declared, Maharashtra were 99 for 4 on the second day of their crucial Ranji Trophy Elite Division B group match at the Golf Grounds in Nasik on Thursday.

Maharashtra, which already lost their top batsmen including Dheeraj Jadhav and Hrishikesh Kanitkar, are still 216 runs short of avoiding a follow-on.

Southpaw S Sriram (1) and night watchman Anupam Sanklecha (0) were at the crease at the draw of stumps.

Indian hopeful Ramesh Power captured two wickets while pacers Ajit Agarkar and Abhishek Nair shared one each for Mumbai, which has 10 points and need an outright win to grab a place in the last four stage of the event.

For Maharashtra, which has only 8 points, Harshad Khadiwale (54, 9 fours, 121 balls) was the only batsmen who put up a decent display of batting on a firm track.

Earlier, resuming their innings at 302 for three, overnight batsman Hiken Shah's century and Abhishek Nair's cameo helped Mumbai to reach the huge total.

Shah, who was on 69 overnight, completed his century cover driving off spinner Rohit Jadhav for a four. This was the second ton in Mumbai innings after opener Sahil Kukreja's 114.

Stylish batsman Shah was was run out when his score was 112, which included fifteen boundries from 190 balls.

Nair, who scored 86 in his team's last tie against Rajasthan, scored 88 from just 96 balls, which included five towering sixes and four hits to the fence.

Captain Amol Muzumdar declared Mumbai's innings 45 minutes before tea at 515 for the loss of 8 wickets.

For Maharashtra, Yadav got three scalps while pacer Anupam Sanklecha captured two.

Scorecard

Mumbai first innings: (overnight 302 for 3)
Sahil Kukreja c Khadiwale b Sanklecha 114
Wasim Jaffer c and b S Sriram 78
Hiken Shah runout 112
Amol Muzumdar c Kanitkar b Bahutule 11
Rohit Sharma c Nigade b Sanklecha 30
Abhishek Nair c Bhoir b R Jadhav 88
Ramesh Power b R Jadhav 28
Ajit Agarkar c Dhiraj Jadhav b R Jadhav 16
Vinayak Samant not out 12
Nilesh Kulkarni not out 03
Swapnil Hazare did not bat 00
Extras: (lb-4, nb-16, w-3) 23

Total: (For 8 wkts decl in 137.2 overs) 515

Fall of wickets: 1-162, 2-249, 3-271, 4-340, 5-387, 6-442, 7-484, 8-506.

Bowling: Anupam Sanklecha 31-3-129-2, Prashant Bhoir 25-3-86-0, Harshad Khadiwale 13-7-33-0, Sairaj Bahutule 15-1-65-1, S Sriram 20-2-73-1, Rohit Jadhav 33.2-2-125-3.

Maharashtra first innings:
Harshad Khadiwale c Agarkar b Powar 54
Dheeraj Jadhav c Kulkarni b Agarkar 09
Hrishikesh Kanitkar lbw Nair 15
Yogesh Takwale c Muzumdar b Powar 10
Shridharan Sriram batting 01
Anupam Sanklecha batting 00
Extras: (lb-7, nb-2, w-1) 10

Total (for 4 wkts in 37 overs) 99

Fall of wickets: 1-45, 2-82, 3-95, 4-98

Bowling: Ajit Agarkar 10-4-21-1, Swapnil Hazare 7-2-31-0, Abhishek Nair 6-3-11-1, Ramesh Powar 9-3-24-2, Nilesh Kulkarni 5-2-5-0.