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Ayush Mhatre’s youthful flamboyance helped Mumbai round out its Vijay Hazare Trophy group stage journey with a five-wicket win over Saurashtra on Sunday. The 17-year-old played a stroke-filled innings (148, 93b, 13x4, 9x6), showering boundaries to all parts of the ground against pace and spin alike, helping his team canter to the 290-run target with four overs to spare. Mhatre took on the opening bowlers in the first PowerPlay, peppering the gaps with front-foot drives and back-foot punches to help his side get a quick start to the chase.
Saurashtra skipper Jaydev Unadkat was forced to turn to spin within the first ten overs, allowing Mhatre to loft them down the ground for more boundaries. His batting partner across the pitch, Jay Bista played the perfect second fiddle (45, 46b, 4x4), looking to give the strike back to the young batter. Bista collected four boundaries through the cover as the spinners overpitched trying to break the opening stand that threatened to take the game away.
ALSO READ: AUS vs IND, 5th Test - Cummins lauds teammates for ‘huge win’, hints at missing Sri Lanka tour Bista eventually fell after a mammoth 141-run partnership, off just 106 balls, handing a return catch to Dharmendrasinh Jadeja. Mhatre continued in the same vein at the other end, bringing up his second List A hundred of just 67 balls. He continued his relentless attack until he nicked one to keeper Harvik Desai off medium pacer Chirag Jani.
Following his dismissal, the middle-order perished looking to complete the chase with a few boundaries, before skipper Shreyas Iyer guided the team across the line to record its fifth win in the tournament. Earlier, Saurashtra got a rapid start after being put into bat. Tarang Gohel’s early onslaught (44, 21b, 8x4, 1x6), where he put away anything full from the pacers, propelled the team to 49 at the end of three overs.
Captain Shreyas turned to the part-time off-spin of Siddesh Lad, which proved to be a masterstroke as the 32-year-old picked three wickets in a trice to reduce the side to 68 for four. The moisture early in the morning helped the ball keep a touch low, resulting in two caught-behind dismissals off attempted cuts. Vishvaraj Jadeja (92.
110b, 8x4, 3x6) and Chirag Jani (83, 98b, 8x4, 1x6) set out on a rebuild job, treading cautiously against the eight bowling options employed by Mumbai. The pair rotated strike after the field spread, finding a few boundaries, especially those bowled wide outside off stump. The 148-run partnership, off 182 balls was broken when Chirag holed out to deep cover.
Parth Bhut played a quick cameo, combining for a 46-run stand with Vishvaraj. But, once he perished for 92, the innings stumbled in pursuit of acceleration, eventually ending at 289, which proved to be insufficient. Brief Scores Saurashtra 289 all out in 50 overs (Tarang Gohel 44, Vishvaraj Jadeja 92, Chirag Jani 83, Siddesh Lad 3/33) lost to Mumbai (Ayush Mhatre 148, Jay Bista 45) Comments Latest on Sportstar.
