Ranji Trophy final: Shardul Thakur shines for Mumbai in first essay against Vidarbha

When the going gets tough the tough get goingrdquo One needed to be a fly on the wall in the Mumbai dressing room to find out if this Billy Ocean hit song was playing at the end of the opening day of their Ranji Trophy final against Vidarbha at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday Mumbai claimed three wickets of the opposition with only 31 on the board after a Shardul Thakurfuelled batting revival saved Mumbai certain embarrassment Thakurrsquos 69ball 75 helped the hosts recover from 1116 to 224 all outKulkarni shines with ballLater Thakur sent back Vidarbha opener Dhruv Shorey for a duck after which pacer Dhawal Kulkarni 29 who is playing his last game for Mumbai dismissed inform Karun Nair 0 and onedrop Aman Mokhade 8 both caught behind by Hardik TamoreThakur was the only Mumbai batsman to work away to a 50plus score through positive intent Tushar Deshpande appeared in sublime form but he was run out when Deshpande was found out of his crease as a firm shot from Thakurrsquos blade hit the stumps at the nonstrikerrsquos endAlso Read ldquoTherersquos no secret itrsquos all about calculations Kaur after Delhis heroics vs GGBefore Thakur took guard the hosts displayed a defensive mindset at one stage failing to hit a boundary for 108 balls Thakur needed just three balls to get his eye in for a stylish offdrive off leftarm spinner Harsh Dubey 362 His attacking knock was laced with eight fours and three sixes Earlier when Vidarbha captain Akshay Wadkar sent Mumbai into bat it looked like the visitors had taken the wrong callSolid opening startThe Vidarbha bowlers failed to take advantage of the early morning moisture on the redsoil pitch in the first hour of the game as Shaw and Lalwani put on an 81run opening stand in 20 overs But Shaw 46 5x4 and Lalwani 37 4x4 proved that their opponents were right as the duo failed to capitalise on a good start which led to a collapsePacer Yash Thakur 354 broke the partnership by forcing an edge from Lalwani for Wadkar to take a splendid diving catch behind the stumps The game turned in favour of Vidarbha in the next 30 minutes and 47 balls the hosts losing another three toporder wickets within the space of 18 runs Shaw lost his cool and departed trying to sweep leftarm spinner Harsh DubeyDubey then trapped Musheer Khan 6 leg before off a fuller length delivery His third blow sent back captain Ajinkya Rahane 7 The presence of Shreyas Iyer 7 also didnrsquot help the hostsrsquo camp as Iyer chased a delivery from fellow Test man Umesh Yadav 243 to offer an easy catch to first slip fielder NairldquoWe are not happy with the total we put up Certainly the way we startedhellip if the top order had applied themselves and had the right attitude and approach we could have reached 350 or even 370 for five or six by the end of the dayrdquo Thakur told reportersThe Mumbai bowling allrounder who scored a matchwinning 109 against Tamil Nadu in the semifinal thanked coach Vilas Godbole for his timely advice ldquoThe other day at BKC I was speaking with Vilas Godbole sir and he just made a couple of fine points about my batting He said at times you tend not to flex your knees and try to hit the ball He said the mindset should be to hit the ball but flex your knees and to go towards the ball I did it in the last two games and I am glad it has come offrdquo Thakur remarkedBrief scoresMumbai 224 S Thakur 75 P Shaw 46 B Lalwani 37 Y Thakur 354 H Dubey 362 U Yadav 243 v Vidarbha 313 A Taide 21 D Kulkarni 29