Gagandeep breaks Mumbai's back

By Our Special Correspondent

MUMBAI, MARCH 22. Punjab owes it to Gagandeep Singh for the strong position it is in against the defending champion Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy quarterfinals at the Wankhede Stadium.

The 20-year-old rocked Mumbai's first innings in the second hour on Thursday. The home team could not recover after that and instead is looking at its rival sitting pretty with an overall lead of 222 runs and with 10 second innings wickets intact.

It was Gagandeep's second spell of five overs - after a one-over first spell - that gave Punjab the upper hand. He took three wickets in this spell to break the back of Mumbai, cruising at 234 for three about 40 minutes before lunch. Till then, after off-spinner Sarandeep Singh had nightwatchman Sriram Kannan playing to Sandeep Sanwal at backward short leg, Mumbai was in control. Skipper Amol Muzumdar had even promoted himself ahead of Vinod Kambli and was handling the situation with an air of confidence.

Mane resumed his innings at 70, eager to better his previous best of 84 against Saurashtra in the Ranji Trophy. He looked a stubborn customer, not allowing his concentration to waver. His intention was to get to his first first class century. So he bided his time. At the other end Muzumdar played a few excellent drives through the covers off Sodhi and leg-spinner Sanwal and once he stepped out to hit Sarandeep straight down the field. The partnership should have ended before Gagandeep blew off three wickets for eight runs, but Vikram Rathour let off both, Mane (on 87) and Muzumdar (on 32).

With Vaneet Sharma indisposed, Rathour called upon Gagandeep for his second spell. A maiden over from the pavilion end had marked his first spell. First, he dismissed Mane, trapping him in front for 97 (363m, 244b, 10x4, 1x6). Gagandeep then had Kambli steering to second slip where Sanwal took a good two-handed catch. Punjab was suddenly upbeat. Gagandeep completed his spell making Amol Rane's off stump take a walk.

Mumbai had lost its hold on the match. That Mumbai could compile only 61 runs after Mane's dismissal indicated Mumbai's lack of depth. Sodhi bowled a good second spell and helped by excellent catching by Sanwal and Yuveraj at slips, Punjab shot out Mumbai for 285.

With a big lead as back up, the Punjab openers Ravneet Ricky (47, 6x4, 1x6) and Munish Sharma (68, 8x4, 2x6) batted confidently for three hours. Mhambrey, was restrictive, but he looked less inspired after a poor batting display by his colleagues.

The scores:

Punjab - 1st innings: 383.

Mumbai - 1st innings: V. Mane lbw b Gagandeep 97, W. Jaffer lbw b Vaneet Sharma 9, J. Paranjape lbw b Sodhi 68, S. Kannan c Sanwal b Sarandeep 5, A. Muzumdar c Yuveraj b Sodhi 48, V. Kambli c Sanwal b Gagandeep 5, A. Rane b Gagandeep 4, P. Mhambrey lbw b Sodhi 9, R. Powar c Rathour b Yuveraj 20, R. Pawar st. Rathour b Sarandeep 2, S. Saxena (not out) 0. Extras (b-6, lb-3, nb-9) 18. Total (in 109. 1 overs) 285.

Fall of wickets: 1-19, 2-150, 3-163, 4-234, 5-240, 6-244, 7-258, 8-281, 9-283.

Punjab bowling: Gagandeep 23-5-51-3, Vaneet Sharma 21.1-7-56-1, Sarandeep 28.1-8-59-2, Sodhi 22-3-63-3, Sanwal 11-3-26-0, Yuveraj 3-0-18-1, Ricky 0.5-0-3-0.

Punjab - 2nd innings: R. Ricky (batting) 47, M. Sharma (batting) 68. Extras (lb-1, nb-3, w-5) 9. Total (for no loss in 40 overs) 124.

Mumbai bowling: Mhambrey 8-2-19-0, Kannan 9-4-27- 0, Saxena 9-2- 27-0, Pawar 9-3-30-0, Powar 5-1-20-0.

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