RANJI TROPHY | It is a Lad and Shreyas show as Mumbai tears into Odisha’s bowling

Shreyas was audacious against pace and spin alike and cut loose after the Tea break on day one of the Mumbai vs Odisha Ranji Trophy match in Mumbai on November 6, 2024.
| Photo Credit: FILE PHOTO: EMMANUAL YOGINI

Odisha captain Govinda Poddar sprung an early surprise by inserting Mumbai in on a batting paradise, albeit with a tinge of live grass on it. That turned out to be the only surprise of the day, with Mumbai making Odisha pay dearly with a run-feast in their Ranji Trophy Elite Group A encounter at the Sharad Pawar Cricket Academy ground here on Wednesday.

Angkrish Raghuvanshi (92, 124b, 13×4, 3×6), the teenaged opener in his second First Class appearance, broke the back of the Odisha bowlers. While Raghuvanshi missed his maiden hundred, Siddhesh Lad (116 batting., 234b, 14×4) and Shreyas Iyer (152 batting, 164b, 18×4, 4×6) then built on it by making an ordinary bowling unit look even more mediocre.

Riding on Lad and Shreyas’ unbroken partnership of 231 runs off 298 balls, Mumbai ended Day One at 385 for three. The team should now aim to bat Odisha out up front.

Last week’s break didn’t affect Shreyas a wee bit, as he carried on in the same vein as his hundred against Maharashtra at the same venue in his last innings. Lad, meanwhile, made the most of his promotion to No. 3 — Mumbai’s third No. 3 in four games this season — by ending a six-year wait for a First Class hundred.

Mumbai’s Angkrish Raghuvanshi drove against the Odisha pace trio with finesse on day one of their Ranji Trophy match in Mumbai on November 6, 2024.
| Photo Credit:
FILE PHOTO: SUDHAKARA JAIN

While Raghuvanshi drove against Odisha’s pace trio with finesse, Lad was solid in defence first up. Once the duo ensured the damage of losing Ayush Mhatre early — missing a full and straight one from Suryakant Pradhan — was curtailed by batting patiently till lunch, Raghuvanshi started opening his shoulders.

However, on the cusp of his century, his attempt to chase a wide one from veteran Biplab Samantray resulted in an inside-edge on to the stumps. The next ball, Ajinkya Rahane was dubiously adjudged leg before. Then on, till the end of the day’s play, it was a Shreyas and Lad show.

Mumbai’s Siddesh Lad ended a six-year wait for a First Class hundred with a patient knock during the Ranji Trophy match against Odisha in Mumbai on November 6, 2024.
| Photo Credit:
FILE PHOTO: V. GANESAN

While Lad was patient, Shreyas was audacious against pace and spin alike, with national chief selector Ajit Agarkar watching the proceedings. Shreyas cut loose after tea, crossing Lad in the 80s and raising his bat before his senior partner.

The scores: Mumbai – 1st innings: Angkrish Raghuvanshi b Samantray 92, Ayush Mhatre lbw b Suryakant 18, Siddhesh Lad (batting) 116, Ajinkya Rahane lbw b Samantray 0, Shreyas Iyer (batting) 152; Extras (b-4, lb-2, w-1): 7; Total (for 3 wkts. in 90 overs): 385.

Fall of wickets: 1-19, 2-154, 3-154.

Odisha bowling: Suryakant 12-4-36-1, Debabrata 12-1-55-0, Roul 14-0-69-0, Harshit Rathod 24-1-94-0, Samantray 7-2-36-2, Biswal 4-0-28-0, Poddar 17-0-61-0.