Mumbai destroy Kerala

A deadly combination of pace and spin saw Mumbai bowl out Kerala for a paltry 165 on the opening day of the Group-A Elite Ranji Trophy match at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Tuesday.

However, Kerala struck to send back Mumbai opening batsman Vinayak Mane for a duck with just 15 runs on the board off eight overs.

Wasim Jaffer (3) and Sairaj Bahutule (5) were at the crease when the stumps were drawn.

Earlier, pacemen Munaf Patel (three for 45) and Usman Malvi (three for 33) and offie Ramesh Powar (three for 27) ripped through Kerala first innings.

Put in to bat by the Ranji Champions on a seaming wicket, the visitors found themselves in deep trouble, losing six top batsmen for just 97 runs off 58 overs. A responsible 48 off 181 balls by former India opener Sujith Somasunder was the only redeeming feature of Kerala innings.

Kerala's best partnership,  46 runs between Somasunder and wicketkeeper C M Deepak (18 off 65 balls) off 22.3 overs for the second wicket, was recorded just before the rout set in.

Somasunder, who opened batting for Karnataka before switching to Kerala, hit five boundaries in his 247 minutes stay at the wicket before being the sixth man out when Mumbai wicketkeeper Vinayak Samant caught him off Patel for a well made 48.

Though Sreekumar Nair (21 off 54 balls) and Ajay Kumar (16 off 10 balls) managed to get starts, they could not convert those into big scores against some impressive bowling spells by Patel, Malvi, Powar and skipper and leg spinner Bahutule (one for 36).

Scorecard

Kerala Ist innings:
 S Somasunder c V Samant b M Patel          48
 M P Sorab c W Jaffer b U Malvi              1
 C M Deepak c W Jaffer b Patel              18
 Hemant Kumar lbw b Malvi                    7
 S Oasia c V Samant b Patel                  0
 S Nair lbw b Malvi                         21
 A Kumar c Jaffer b R Powar                 16
 K N Ananthapadmanaban c S Bahutule b Powar 29
 P Chandran lbw b Bahutule                  12
 S Cheruvathore (not out)                    9
 T Yohannan c Jaffer b Powar                 0
Extras (lb-4)                               4
Total (all out in 79.5 overs)             165
Fall of wickets: 1-2, 2-48, 3-58, 4-60, 5-96, 6-97,
7-119, 8-149, 9-165.
Bowling: M Patel 19-8-45-3, U Malvi 19-6-33-3, R Morris
8-2-20-0, S Bahutule 16-4-36-1, R Powar 17.5-3-27-3.

Mumbai Ist innings:
 V Mane c M C Deepak b S Cheruvathore   0
 W Jaffer batting                       3
 S Bahutule batting                     5
Extras (nb-7)                          7
Total (for 1 wkt off 8 overs)         15
Fall of wicket: 1-0.
Bowling: S Cheruvathore 4-3-4-1, T Yohannan 2-0-11-0,
P Chandran 2-2-0-0.

Photograph: Deepak Salvi