Kotian’s eight-for drives Mumbai to Ranji Trophy win over Haryana
Tanush Kotian took career-best eight for 81 as Mumbai beat Haryana at the Sharad Pawar Academy ground in a Ranji Trophy match on Thursday.
Kotian finished with 11 wickets in the match as Haryana were dismissed for 256 at the stroke of tea, setting a target of 97 which Mumbai overhauled inside 11 overs. Mumbai had posted 430 in their first innings while Haryana made 270 in reply; in the chase Divyaansh Saxena was 30 not out (25b, 2x4, 2x6) and Angkrish Raghuvanshi 67 not out (39b, 7x4, 3x6).
Kotian began the morning spell from the pavilion end with Mumbai needing eight wickets to force a result and Haryana aiming to bat out for a draw. His first success came when Yashvardhan Dalal edged behind and Sarfaraz Khan pouched the chance.
Himanshu Rana, who had retired hurt after being struck on the helmet the previous evening, returned to join Nishant Sindhu before Kotian struck again close to lunch by getting Rana to edge to Divyaansh Saxena at leg-slip. Sindhu fell before the break when he inside-edged an audacious sweep that Akash Anand held.
Kotian varied his angles to keep the batters under pressure while Samant Jakhar and Anuj Thakral resisted for nearly two hours. The breakthrough that ended their resistance arrived when Kotian, bowling over the wicket, breached Thakral’s defences and wickets fell thereafter, allowing Kotian to record career-best figures in both an innings and the match.
Haryana — 2nd innings: Ankit Kumar c Saxena b Kotian 12, Himanshu Rana c Saxena b Kotian 46, Nishant Sindhu c Anand b Kotian 44, Dheeru Singh c D’Souza b Musheer 2, Yashvardhan Dalal c Sarfaraz b Kotian 14, Parth Vats c Raghuvanshi b Kotian 24, Kanishk Chouhan c Lad b Musheer 18, Samant Jakhar b Kotian 40, Anuj Thakral (not out) 40, Ajith Chahal b Kotian 0, Aman Kumar b Kotian 2; Extras (b-5, lb-6, nb-1, w-2): 14; Total (in 85.3 overs): 256. Fall of wickets: 1-20, 2-54, 3-75, 4-117, 5-128, 6-165, 7-167, 8-248, 9-248.
Mumbai bowling: Mulani 16-6-49-0, Kotian 34.3-7-81-8, Avasthi 3-1-11-0, D’Souza 3-0-8-0, Musheer 22-4-75-2, Deshpande 7-1-21-0. Mumbai — 2nd innings: Divyaansh Saxena (not out) 30, Angkrish Raghuvanshi (not out) 67; Total (for no loss in 10.4 overs): 97. Haryana bowling: Chouhan 4.4-1-0-30-0, Sindhu 5-0-53-0, Vats 1-0-14-0.
The win was Mumbai’s third straight in the competition and came with a bonus point, a result that the side will regard as part of their continued march towards regaining the Ranji Trophy title.
