Jaipur: Skipper Shardul Thakur ticked all the boxes, right from winning the toss to blowing the Chattisgarh top order with a match-winning four-wicket burst, as Mumbai cruised to a wicket victory to complete a group stage hat trick in the Vijay Hazare Trophy here on Monday.
At the Jaipuria Vidyalaya ground, Shardul won the toss and used the early morning nip to good effect to reduce Chhattisgarh to 10 for 4 inside the first five overs.
Chhattisgarh never recovered from the blow and were skittled out for 142 in 38.1 overs.
Left-arm spinner Shams Mulani, who was introduced as a third-change bowler, later cleaned up Chhattisgarh’s middle and lower order. From 10/4, Ajay Mandal and Amandeep Khare took the side past 100. Mulani broke the partnership, dismissing Ajay Mandal (46). He then got rid of Aditya Sarwate, Mohit Raut, Harsh Yadav, and Sourabh Majumdar to complete his fifer. Mulani conceded 31 runs in 9.1 overs.
Chasing low totals could often be tricky, but with Angkrish Raghuvanshi’s unbeaten 66-ball-68 and Siddhesh Lad’s 48 not out off 42 balls, Mumbai reached home in just 24 overs, without breaking a sweat. While Harsh Yadav claimed the solitary wicket of debutant opener Ishan Mulchandani, who wasn’t happy with the dismissal, Lad and Raghuvanshi held fort.
Despite Chhattisgarh skipper Khare shuffling his bowlers frequently, the experienced batters played to their strength and helped Mumbai register its third win on the trot.
