Ranji Trophy: Railways' late burst restricts Mumbai to 247 for six at Brabourne
Railways picked up three late wickets to leave Mumbai 247 for six at stumps on day one of their Ranji Trophy Group D match at the Brabourne Stadium on Monday, with Angkrish Raghuvanshi and Sarfaraz Khan both reaching half-centuries.
Although the Brabourne is listed as Railways’ home ground, the match unfolded in familiar Mumbai surroundings; Railways elected to bowl and the morning began under cloudy skies, but the visitors were unable to fully exploit those conditions.
Mumbai’s openers built a strong start, Angkrish Raghuvanshi and Divyaansh Saxena putting on 109 for the first wicket before Himanshu Sangwan produced the first breakthrough after lunch, having Saxena caught behind by substitute wicketkeeper Suraj Ahuja.
After the sun appeared, Railways’ pace battery settled into good areas; Adarsh Singh removed Musheer Khan and Sangwan later had Raghuvanshi caught behind, disrupting Mumbai’s momentum.
Captain Siddhesh Lad and Sarfaraz Khan rebuilt with a 98-run fourth-wicket stand, Sarfaraz reaching a half-century after a couple of reprieves, before Sangwan had Lad playing on towards the close and Adarsh struck again to have Sarfaraz caught behind.
Mumbai’s decision to include Suryansh Shedge ahead of Sylvester D’Souza did not yield dividends when Mohammed Saif had Shedge caught at cover by captain Bhargav Merai; former India captain Sunil Gavaskar was in attendance as Akash Anand and Shams Mulani negotiated the final overs without further loss.
The scores: Mumbai — 1st innings: Divyaansh Saxena c sub (Ahuja) b Sangwan 39, Angkrish Raghuvanshi c sub (Ahuja) b Sangwan 78, Musheer Khan c sub (Ahuja) b Adarsh 4, Siddhesh Lad b Sangwan 47, Sarfaraz Khan c sub (Ahuja) b Adarsh 55, Akash Anand (batting) 16, Suryansh Shedge c Merai b Saif 1, Shams Mulani (batting) 2; Extras: (b-5): 5; Total (for six wkts. in 83 overs): 247. Fall of wickets: 1-109, 2-120, 3-128, 4-226, 5-232, 6-238. Railways bowling: Sangwan 17-5-32-3, Adarsh 17-5-60-2, Raj 19-1-52-0, Ali 3.5-0-11-0, Mondal 6-0-42-0, Sahab 12-3-31-0, Merai 3.1-1-5-0, Vivek 1-0-2-0, Saif 4-2-7-1.
