Spinner Shams bags his maiden List A five-wicket haul as Mumbai outclass Chhattisgarh by nine wickets; says bowling in rhythm and hard work paid off
Spinner Shams Mulani is congratulated by his Mumbai teammates after claiming 5-31 against Chhattisgarh in Jaipur on Monday. Pic/Pratik Koli; MCA
Left-arm spinner Shams Mulani (5-31) claimed his maiden five-wicket haul in List A games as Mumbai outclassed Chhattisgarh by nine wickets in their Vijay Hazare Trophy Elite Group ‘C’ match in Jaipur on Monday.
Bowling first, pacer Shardul Thakur (4-13) led from the front, dismissing opener Anuj Tiwary (0) and one-drop Mayank Verma (3) in the very first over before reducing Chhattisgarh to 10-4 by the fifth over. Mulani then broke a crucial 105-run fifth-wicket stand between Chhattisgarh captain Amandeep Khare (50) and Ajay Mandal (46), trapping the latter LBW.
Mumbai later comfortably chased down Chhattisgarh’s total of 142 in just 24 overs, thanks mainly to opener Angkrish Raghuvanshi’s unbeaten 68 not out (6x4, 2x6).
Mulani was mighty pleased to get his fifer. “I have taken three and four wickets many times, coming close to bagging a fifer, but somehow it has eluded me [in List A games]. I’m extremely satisfied with today’s performance because everything fell into place perfectly. I’m bowling in rhythm and my hard work is paying off,” Mulani, who played his 58th List A match told mid-day over the phone from Jaipur on Monday.
Credit to skipper Thakur
Mulani, a veteran of 19 five-wicket hauls in 56 first-class matches, credited his skipper Thakur and Raghuvanshi for providing a good start with the ball and bat respectively: “Shardul bhai did half the work. He dismissed their main batters at the start, so the work was quite easy thereafter. I just needed to bowl in the right to derive the benefits.”
About Raghuvanshi, Mulani said: “Initially, there was a lot of help for the bowlers with the new ball, so [Raghuvanshi] did well to maintain his composure. He got injured [vs Uttarakhand in the previous game] on his head while fielding, so, that also plays on the mind of a player. But he didn’t pay much attention to that and played with a lot of intent.”
Though Mumbai have won their first three games, beating Sikkim, Uttarakhand and Chhattisgarh, Mulani reckoned all the remaining matches are crucial. Mumbai face Goa (December 31), Maharashtra (January 3), Himachal Pradesh (January 6) and Punjab (January 8).
Key clashes ahead
“Every game is very important for us. If one or two games don’t go your way, the points table opens up, and it becomes challenging. Last season too, we lost two games [vs Karnataka and Punjab] and then couldn’t qualify. So our aim is to try and win every game,” he concluded.
19
No. of five-wicket hauls Mulani has claimed in first-class cricket
Brief scores
Chhattisgarh 142 all out in 38.1 overs (A Khare 63, A Mandal 46; S Mulani 5-31, S Thakur 4-13) lost to Mumbai 144-1 in 24 overs (A Raghuvanshi 68*,
S Lad 48*) by nine wickets
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
