Ranji Trophy: Railways register maiden win over Mumbai

MUMBAI: Even going by the sharp dip in their standards in recent years, this has got to be a new low. On Friday, at their beloved Wankhede Stadium, a hopelessly outclassed Mumbai, who've won the Ranji Trophy no less than 41 times, suffered their first-ever defeat to the Railways, a team which came close to being relegated last year in the tournament.
What makes the Railways' feat special is the fact that they thrashed a formidable domestic team which has at least three India players, and five who play in the
IPL, by 10 wickets with a day and a session to spare on its home turf.That they bagged a well-deserved bonus point in the process added salt to the hosts' wounds. Mumbai were coming into this game after beating Baroda in Baroda, while Railways had lost by an innings to Saurashtra in Vizag.
However, showing the spirit of an underdog, Railways not only 'shocked,' but also humbled the once-mighty Mumbai within two-and-a-half days in their Ranji Trophy Elite Group league match at the Wankhede Stadium on Friday. A huge share of credit for their victory must go to their three-pronged seam attack, which skittled Mumbai for less than 200 in both innings by consistently bowling at the stumps or just outside the off-stump, forcing the batsmen to make mistakes. Famed for their batting exploits, Mumbai lost 20 wickets in just 91.3 overs. It confirmed the fears that their batsmen come a cropper on a seaming track.
After T Pradeep took six for 37 on Day One in the first innings to shoot Mumbai out for 114 - a position from where they were always going to lose barring a miracle - it was the turn of Himanshu Sangwan, who hails from Najafgarh, a village near Delhi from where Virender Sehwag too hails, to put his hand up in the second innings.
The 24-year-old medium-pacer took his maiden five-wicket haul (five for 60) on Day Three as Mumbai concluded their dismal show with 198 in the second innings. Fittingly, Sangwan closed out the proceedings by forcing Deepak Shetty to nick one to wicketkeeper Nitin Bhille.
After cracking a decisive hundred that saw Railways make 266 to gain a 152-run lead, skipper Karn Sharma, who didn't bowl at all in the first innings, came to the party in the second, removing his counterpart Surayakumar Yadav, who top-scored with 65 (94b, 12x4) and Shardul Thakur.
Mumbai's unbelievably poor performance in this game was highlighted by the struggles of India's 'Test specialist' Ajinkya Rahane, who was out to a great catch by a diving 'keeper Nitin Bhille after managing to score merely eight off 54 balls. He was batting on 3 off 45 balls overnight. The Indian Test vice-captain began the day with a typical whip off Pradeep to mid-wicket, but fell to a Sangwan beauty, which perhaps had him in two minds, on the tenth ball of the day.
Thereafter, the aggressive Yadav, who stroked 12 boundaries in his knock, and Tare raised hopes of a fightback with a 64-run stand for the sixth wicket, but the floodgates opened once Tare poked at a Pradeep delivery only to edge it to the 'keeper. Soon, Yadav was bowled by a flighted Karn delivery while trying to smash it to mid wicket. A massive in-cutter by Sangwan then ended the stay of Shams Mulani as Mumbai lost three wickets in the space of two runs.
In the end, Akash Parkar's unbeaten 35 and Shardul Thakur's 21 saved Mumbai from the ignominy of an innings defeat, though the Railways openers galloped to the 47-run target without losing their wicket to ensure that their team earned a bonus point by virtue of its 10-wicket win.
Post the forgettable loss, Yadav, putting up a brave face, credited the Railways for "playing really well on this track." "They outclassed us in all the departments," he admitted.