Ranji Trophy: Yashasvi Jaiswal hits fifty but Mumbai falter

JAIPUR: Benched for the entire three-match ODI series in Australia, Yashasvi Jaiswal instantly utilised the batting opportunity to score a half-century, but his classy knock failed to inspire his teammates as Mumbai squandered away a strong start and were bundled out for 254 against Rajasthan in the Ranji Trophy Elite Group D match at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium here on Saturday.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!Put into bat, Mumbai were cruising at 100 for no loss, and it looked Mahipal Lomror’s decision backfired even as Jaiswal and Musheer Khan provided a perfect start for the visitors.However, a rush of blood from Jaiswal brought his and Mumbai’s downfall. Trying to pull Aniket Choudhary’s bouncer, he edged behind, giving Rajasthan wicketkeeper Kunal Singh Rathore his first of the six catches of the day.The wicket of Jaiswal (67: 97b, 8x4m 1x6) triggered the collapse as Mumbai lost the remaining nine wickets for just 154 runs. Playing only his second Ranji match, Ashok Sharma orchestrated Rajasthan’s fightback with a lively spell in the post-lunch session. The young medium-pacer forced Ajinkya Rahane to edge with a gem of an outswinger on the first ball after lunch break.The 23-year-old then sent back Siddhesh Lad and Sarfaraz Khan in a similar fashion to put Mumbai on the back foot. The right-arm seamer could have got Musheer Khan’s wicket too, but his delivery was declared a no-ball after he uprooted Musheer’s stumps. Musheer bravely held fort at one end but was dismissed for 49.At 179/7, it appeared Mumbai would be bowled out before the 200-run mark, but some gutsy batting by Mumbai tailenders, Shams Mulani (32), Tushar Deshpande (25*) and Himanshu Singh (25), prevented the complete disaster.