Ranji Trophy Day 2: Mumbai 63-1 at lunch in reply to Baroda's 290

They lost Prithvi Shaw's (7 off 27 balls) early in the piece, but with 17-year-old opener Ayush Mhatre batting confidently on 38 (56b, 5x4), Mumbai reached 63 for one at lunch, after folding up Baroda for 290 to round off a successful morning for them on Day Two of their Elite Group A Ranji Trophy match at the Kotambi International Cricket Stadium in Vadodara on Saturday.

In a rare, first-of-its kind instance which shows how deeply cricket has spread in the suburbs of the city, Mumbai had two batsmen from Virar opening the innings for them-Shaw and Mhatre, who looks to be a promising prospect. On a turning wicket where the ball has been spinning viciously from the first session of the match itself, Baroda, in another rare case, chose to open the bowling with two left-arm spinners-skipper Krunal Pandya and Bhargav Bhatt, who had claimed 14 wickets (7-112 & 7-200) in the Ranji Trophy quarterfinal against Mumbai at the Mumbai Cricket Association's ground in BKC last season.

Pandya drew first blood for Baroda when, in the ninth over, he castled Shaw-he had scored a blazing double century on his last trip to Vadodra five years back-neck and crop with a beauty- a fuller arm ball that snaked in between the bat and pad, dislodging the middle and leg stump. However, Mhatrey looked composed while negotiating the seasoned Bhatt and the other spinners on a wicket where batting isn't easy. Soon after he was beaten by a sharply turning Pandya delivery which ricocheted off the 'keeper's gloves and flew over the slip's head, he unleashed an aerial drive past mid-on for four of the bowler. He steering seam bowling allrounder Atit Sheth down to the third man region for a couple of fours in the 12th over, and then took two fours off Bhatt in the last over (17th of the innings) before lunch-putting away a long hop and then lofting the bowler over cover.

Playing only his second first-class match, young seamer Raj Limbani, and off-spinner Mahesh Pithiya bowled an over each. After playing for the India Under-19 team in the U-19 World Cup in South Africa earlier this year, Limbani had made his debut in the Ranji quarters last season against Mumbai, but returned figures of 1-119 in that match. Pithiya had come into the limelight last year when the Australian team called him for their pre-tour camp in Bengaluru last year as his action resembled that of veteran India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin.

In a surprising decision, Mumbai chose to send 'keeper-bat Hardik Tamore, who had stroked a hundred while opening the innings in the place of an injured Shaw in the Ranji quarters last season, to bat at the critical No 3 slot-even as middle-order batsmen in their ranks-skipper Ajinkya Rahane , Shreyas Iyer and Siddhesh Lad-playing his first match for Mumbai in five years-remained padded up.

Earlier, Mumbai took the remaining four Baroda wickets for 49 runs, with spinners Tanush Kotian (4-71 in 24.1 overs) and Shams Mulani (3-111 in 37 overs) finishing with seven wickets for 182 runs between themselves. Sheth (66, 154b, 3x4) was trapped lbw while trying to defend a full ball from Shams Mulani, while Pithiya (4) was dismissed in the same fashion by Shardul Thakur. Kotian scalped out Limbani (30, 76b, 2x4) and No 11 Akash Singh-caught superbly by Rahane (he had taken a blinder on Day 1 too) at slip.

For a team which was reduced to 90 for five at lunch on Day One, Baroda would've been happy to finish with 290.