Sport - Cricket

Kukreja hits unbeaten 229 in drawn tie

— Photo: S. Subramanium

BIG KNOCK: Sahil Kukreja’s characteristic innings was the highlight of the final day.

NEW DELHI: Since last November, Mumbai opener Sahil Kukreja has rued missing a double century against Delhi by just one run.

On Wednesday, this gritty opener did not lose out on a similar last-day opportunity and helped himself to an unbeaten 229 in the drawn Ranji Trophy Super League match at the Ferozeshah Kotla here.

Mumbai, which conceded the first innings lead last year, settled the score on this day and collected three points to raise its tally to 14 from three outings.

Delhi, which received one point, now has five from three matches.

The script followed expected lines. Mumbai, ahead by 35 runs on the first innings, resumed the day at 149 without loss and declared the innings at 468 for four.

The declaration, that came 18 minutes into the final session, also brought an end to the proceedings through mutual consent of the two captains since a minimum of 75 overs had already been bowled.

Delhi’s lack of urgency was understandable as Mumbai frontline batsmen enjoyed some batting practice ahead of the match against Saurashtra this weekend at Rajkot.

Delhi skipper Aakash Chopra sparingly used the mediumpacers Pradeep Sangwan, Sumit Narwal and Parvinder Awana considering the must-win situation the team faces in its next match against Gujarat at Valsad.

Kukreja, known for his big knocks in the second innings, reinforced the impression when he resumed at 77 and reached his highest score in first class cricket with consummate ease against a non-too-hostile Delhi attack.

With the Delhi players simply going through the motions, Kukreja remained merciless in his approach.

He smashed 31 boundaries and collected a ‘five’ to make the most of the situation.

However, Wasim Jaffer missed his century by two runs after being bowled by Narwal. The immensely talented Ajinkya Rahane, looking for his third straight century this season, displayed his robust form by scoring 78 including a six and nine boundaries.

In the last over before lunch, Rahane became too ambitious and holed out at extra-cover to miss out a rare feat of scoring a century in each innings against Delhi and registering three in a row in the National championship.

Amol Muzumdar and Hiken Shah followed quickly after lunch but wicketkeeper Vinayak Mane kept Kukreja’s company and collected an unbeaten half-century on a day when Mumbai scored 329 runs in 77 overs.

The scores:

Mumbai — 1st innings: 330.

Delhi — 1st innings: 295.

Mumbai — 2nd innings: Sahil Kukreja (not out) 229, Wasim Jaffer b Narwal 98, Ajinkya Rahane c (sub) Gaurav Chhabra b Narwal 78, Amol Muzumdar b Awana 2, Hiken Shah c Dhawan b Nanda 1, Vinayak Samant (not out) 53; Extras (b-2, lb-1, nb-2, w-2) 7. Total (for four wickets decl. in 114 overs) 468.

Fall of wickets: 1-178, 2-335, 3-345, 4-350.

Delhi bowling: P. Sangwan 14-0-69-0, S. Narwal 20-5-75-2, P. Awana 15-0-71-1, C. Nanda 30-5-99-1, R. Bhatia 4-1-15-0, A. Jain 22-1-107-0, A. Chopra 9-0-29-0.

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