Yashasvi Jaiswal scored 78 as Mumbai reached 248/5 at stumps on Day 1 of Ranji Trophy final against Madhya Pradesh at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Wednesday.
Jaiswal, in company of skipper Prithvi Shaw, added 87 for the first wicket, but the 41-time champions were unable to string a 50 plus stand thereafter as Madhya Pradesh bounced back from second session onwards. Off-spinner Saransh Jain took 2/31 while Anubhav Agarwal was impressive in his 2/56.
After electing to bat first under overcast skies and cool weather, Mumbai began well with Jaiswal being the initial aggressor, dancing down the pitch to hit Kumar Kartikeya Singh for a six over mid-on. When Kartikeya again bowled short, Jaiswal hanged back in his crease and cut sweetly through backward point for four.
After almost being run-out due to a huge mix-up, Jaiswal continued to get forward and drive Gaurav as well as Saransh through the off-side. Shaw, despite fetching some boundaries, was struggling to adjust to the bounce and deviation off the pitch against Gaurav and later Agarwal.
Against spinners, especially Kartikeya’s left-arm spin, who wasn’t getting much help from the pitch, Shaw used his feet to slam a lofted six over long-off and follow it up with a boundary coming off a beautiful straight drive in his first over of facing spin.
But him being troubled against movement from pacers eventually caused his downfall as fast bowler Anubhav Agarwal breached through his defence to rattle his off-stump. Armaan Jaffer continued his good nick with a lovely punch-drive off Agarwal.
Post lunch, Madhya Pradesh made a comeback as Mumbai lost their second wicket when Armaan Jaffer got a thick inner edge on a drive off a slower ball from Kartikeya and was snapped by a diving short mid-wicket. After Jaiswal reached his fifty with a single through mid-wicket, Suved Parkar slammed a brace of boundaries before playing the flick too early and leading edge popped to mid-wicket off Saransh.
Brief Scores: Mumbai 248/5 in 90 overs (Yashasvi Jaiswal 78, Prithvi Shaw 47; Saransh Jain 2/31, Anubhav Agarwal 2/56) against Madhya Pradesh
