Ranji Trophy: Mumbai's Young Turks hand them the advantage vs Karnataka

Mumbais youngsters are standing up when it matters the most and shouldering their responsibilityOn Day One of their mustwin Ranji tie against defending champions Karnataka it was 22yearold Siddhesh Lad and Nikhil Patil Jr 25 who stood up and gave Mumbai an upperhand at the Wankhede Stadium on FridayThe hosts finished the day on 3425 with Lad batting on 94 and Patil playing only his second game of the season was unbeaten on 85Mumbais Nikhil Patil Jr in action duirng the Ranji Trophy match against Karnataka in Mumbais Wankhede Stadium on Friday PicPTIThe duo stitched together an unbeaten 175run partnership for the sixth wicket rescuing the team from a precarious 167 with five wickets downWhile Patil was the more compact of the duo and hardly played any loose shot Lad made most of the two lives he gotLad was first dropped on 13 by Manish Pandey at first slip with the team score reading 148 for five and then got another life when R Samarth dropped him at gully on 55Mumbai whose quarterfinal hopes hinge on them securing an outright win over the group leaders still have a long way to go in the match but at least they now have a solid base from which to launch an attackEarlier Mumbai skipper Aditya Tare bailed his team out with a strokeful 72 which included 15 fours after his opening partner Shrideep Mangela 4 and No 3 batsman Shreyas Iyer 20 departed early in the inningsMumbais Siddhesh Lad acknowledges his teammates and the crowd after reaching his halfcentury against Karnataka during the Ranji Trophy game in Mumbais Wankhede Stadium on Friday PicPTIEarlier Mumbai skipper Aditya Tare bailed his team out with a strokeful 72 which included 15 fours after his opening partner Shrideep Mangela 4 and No 3 batsman Shreyas Iyer 20 departed early in the inningsTare teamed up with senior allrounder Abhishek Nayar who made a comeback after missing out on the last three league matches due to injury The duo added 75 runs for the third wicket before Tare was caught at point by Samarth off leggie Shreyas Gopal At the time of his dismissal the Mumbai skipper was looking good for a big knock as the Karnataka bowlers had largely failed to ruffle himTare made his intentions clear from the outset smashing three boundaries in the second over of the day off Abhimanyu Mithun Having a positive partner like Nayar at the other end also helped Tare play more freely and fluently as he smashed a brace of boundaries in an over quite frequentlyBut once offspinner Udit Patel claimed the wickets of Surya Kumar Yadav 19 and Nayar 36 in the span of seven balls Mumbai had to go back to the rebuilding the inningsLad and Patil though did not disappoint as the hosts put up a commendable showldquoIt was an extremely important partnership for us Anything could have happened when we were five down for 167 They are both extremely talented batsmenrdquo said TareScores Mumbai 342 for 5 A Tare 72 A Nayar 36 S Lad batting 94 N Patil batting 85 Vinay Kumar 2 for 65 Udit Patel 2 for 68 v Karnataka