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Follow UsYashasvi Jaiswal’s ton salvages Mumbai’s day
Brief scores: Mumbai 260/5 (Jaiswal 100, Tamore 51*, Yash Dayal 2/35) at stumps on Day 1 vs UP
Yashavi’s Jaiswal second (consecutive) first-class ton salvaged the first day of the semi-finals for Mumbai, who ended Day 1 on 260/5 after being inserted into bat at the Just Cricket Academy ground in Bengaluru. Uttar Pradesh skipper Karan Sharma, after winning the toss, had no hesitation in sending Mumbai into bat, and the decision paid off instantly as UP managed to see the back of skipper Prithvi Shaw in the very first over. Shivam Mavi then trapped Armaan Jaffer (10) in front and Mumbai, at 24/2, were in all sorts.
Double-centurion from the quarter-finals, Suved Parkar managed to stitch a 63-run with Yashasvi Jaiswal, but he too was sent back to the pavilion by Dayal, who dismissed the right-hander for 32.
Parkar’s dismissal brought to the crease the red-hot Sarfaraz Khan, and for a good while, it looked like the 24-year-old was going to notch up yet another mammoth score. However, after having raced to 40 off just 51 balls, Sarfaraz succumbed to the part-time off-spin of UP skipper Karan Sharma.
But amidst the fall of wickets, playing just the third first-class game of his career, Yashasvi Jaiswal kept his concentration and composure intact to register a fine century, his second in red-ball cricket. Unlike Sarfaraz, Jaiswal did not take the attack to the UP bowlers, but the 20-year-old showed exceptional grit to post his second consecutive century and drag Mumbai out of trouble.
Still, it was Uttar Pradesh who ended up finishing the day on top as Jaiswal fell immediately after his ton, once again to the part-time spin of Karan Sharma. Wicket-keeper Hardik Tamore (51*) and Shams Mulani (10*), post Jaiswal’s dismissal, added 27 runs as Mumbai finished Day 1 on 260/5.
Bengal in pole position despite Himanshu Mantri’s ton
Brief scores: Madhya Pradesh 271/6 (Himanshu Mantri 134* and Mukesh Kumar 2/45) vs Bengal at stumps on Day 1
Underdogs Madhya Pradesh won the toss and opted to bat against Bengal, but the Aditya Shrivastava-led side failed to take advantage of the toss as they ended Day 1 on 271/6.
MP, on the day, kept losing wickets at regular intervals. They first lost Yash Dubey for 9 in the fifth over of the game. 10/1 eventually became 97/4 as Shubham Sharma (17), Rajat Patidar (7) and skipper Shrivastava (10) all perished cheaply.
It was only when Akshat Raghuwanshi and opener Himanshu Mantri got together that MP managed to play themselves into the contest. The pair put on 123 runs together, with Raghuwanshi counter-attacking, smashing 8 fours and 2 sixes in his blitz of 63. The 18-year-old, however, was trapped LBW in the final session of the day by Akash Deep.
Akash Deep also got the wicket of Saransh Jain as MP lost six but Himanshu Mantri, much like Jaiswal, kept going to smash a maiden first-class ton.
Bengal finished the day on top as they, despite losing the toss, managed to reduce MP to 271/6, but the good news for the Aditya Shrivastava-led side is that they still have Mantri unbeaten on 134.
