Defending champions Mumbai face an early exit even if they win their last match against Meghalaya with a bonus point.
Unfancied Jammu and Kashmir continued their glorious run in the Ranji Trophy, beating star-studded defending champions Mumbai by five wickets in a Elite Group A league match to close in on a place in the knockout round.
It was after a decade that Jammu and Kashmir beat the 42-time champions, having last won in December 2014 at the Wankhede Stadium.
It wasn't a mean achievement with Mumbai squad comprising of India Test and ODI skipper Rohit Sharma, former captain and 80 plus Test match veteran Ajinkya Rahane, ODI regular and IPL winning skipper Shreyas Iyer, star opener Yashasvi Jaiswal, seasoned all-rounder Shardul Thakur and off-spinner Tanush Kotian, who was a part of Border-Gavaskar Trophy series squad.
Rohit's return to Ranji Trophy after a decade yielded only 31 runs across two knocks and he looked very much out of form, shaky and not ready to grind it out for long hours.
J&K now have 29 points from six games and lead group A with a match left against Baroda where they need to get just one point.
Baroda (27 from 5 games) are currently playing Maharashtra. If Baroda get a first-innings lead against J&K in their last game, Mumbai (22 from 6 games) would be knocked out of the group league phase even if they win with bonus points against Meghalaya.
Needing 205 to win, opener Shubham Khajuria (45) and one down Vivrant Sharma (38) laid the foundation with a 75 runs stand for the second wicket.
IPL star Abdul Samad (24 off 20 balls) smashed five boundaries but it was left-handed Abid Mushtaq (32 not out) who finished the match with a couple of huge sixes off Kotian. The first one was down the ground and the second was a winning hit over midwicket as the dug-out celebrated wildly.
The Indian skipper Rohit was seen applauding the J&K players even as he tried to hide his disappointment.
The Mumbai camp looked desolate despite a fine fightback in the second innings that saw them get to 290, thanks to Shardul Thakur's (119) brilliant rear-guard hundred.
Jammu and Kashmir medium pacers -- Yudhvir Singh (7 wickets), Umar Nazir Mir (6 wickets) and Auquib Nabi (6 wickets) -- scalped 19 out of the 20 Mumbai wickets on a lively pitch at the MCA-BKC Stadium. However, batting became easier during the post-lunch session on second day as was evident from Shardul-Kotian stand.
Shams Mulani (4/54 in 15 overs) gave it his all with a four-wicket haul but Mumbai's opening bowlers Shardul (0/45 in 8 overs) and Mohit Avasthi (1/33 in 10 overs) didn't seem potent enough once the nip off the surface was gone after first 30 minutes.
All Jammu and Kashmir needed were two good partnerships - one they got because of Khajuria and Vivrant. Also opener Yawer Hassan (24) got some quick runs. The second one was 48 runs for the sixth wicket between Abid and Kanhaiya Wadhawan (19 not out).
The Mumbai bowlers bowled too many boundary balls -- 25 fours and three sixes which was unpardonable while defending a small total. But it was poor first innings batting by Mumbai, when they were bundled out for 120 after electing to bat, which proved to be decisive in the end.
Brief Scores:
In Mumbai: Mumbai 120 and 290 (Shardul Thakur 119, Tanush Kotian 62, Auqib Nabi 4/80) vs J&K 206 and 207/5 (Shubham Khajuria 45, Vivrant Sharma 38, Abid Mushtaq 32 not out, Shams Mulani 4/54). J&K won by 5 wickets. Points: J&K 6; Mumbai 0.
In Shillong: Meghalaya 198 and 221 for 6 (Sumit Kumar 51, Jaskirat Singh Sachdeva 53) vs Odisha 548/7 (Govinda Poddar 121, Rajesh Dhuper 102, Nafees Siddique 3/91).
In Agartala: Tripura 212 and 140/2 (Bikramkumar Das 75 not out) vs Services 294 (Shubham Rohilla 65, Rajat Paliwal 52).
In Nasik: Maharashtra 297 and 464/7 (Saurabh Nawale 126 not out, Ruturaj Gaikwad 89, Ramakrishna Ghosh 99) vs Baroda 145.
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