Jaiswal hits ton, guides Mumbai to 260/5 against UP

Bengaluru: Continuing his good form, left-handed batter Yashasvi Jaiswal hit a responsible hundred to propel Mumbai to 260/5 on the first day of their Ranji Trophy semifinal against Uttar Pradesh here on Tuesday.

Oozing with confidence, Jaiswal, who struck his maiden first-class hundred in the quarterfinal against Uttarakhand, anchored the innings, after the 41-time Ranji Trophy champions suffered a top-order failure. Jaiswal was the cynosure of eyes as he took a formidable UP attack to task and struck 15 boundaries in his 227-ball 100.

Sent into bat, Mumbai lost in-form skipper Prithvi Shaw (0) in the very first over. He became left-arm pacer Yash Dayal’s first victim, on the third ball of the day, after being caught by Priyam Garg.

Uttar Pradesh bowlers were on top in the first session as they persisted with the fifth stump line. Pacer Shivam Mavi was rewarded as he trapped one-down Armaan Jaffer (10) in front of the wickets to leave the opposition in a spot of bother at 24/2.

Then Jaiswal added 63-runs with Suved Parkar (32), who had hit maiden double hundred on debut in the quarterfinals, and pulled the team out of trouble.

However, it was once again Dayal, who broke the partnership by dismissing Parkar, who hit four boundaries in his sedate knock. Right-handed batter Sarfaraz, who hit five fours, however, could not convert his start to a big score and became off-spinner Karan Sharma’s first victim.

After Sarfaraz fell, Jaiswal found an able ally in wicket-keeper Hardik Tamore (51 not out), who played his part to perfection. But Jaiswal, to whom the first day belonged, was dismissed soon after reaching the three-figures mark. He became Karan Sharma’s second victim as Mumbai lost half of their side for 233.

Mantri’s ton leads MP to 271/6 over Bengal

Himanshu Mantri’s maiden first-class century bailed Madhya Pradesh out from a precarious situation of 97 for 4 and helped the side to 271 for 6 at stumps on the opening day. Mantri stroked 15 boundaries
and a six in his unbeaten 134.

Brief scores: Madhya Pradesh 271/6 (Himanshu Mantri 134*, Akshat Raghuvanshi 61; Mukesh Kumar 2-45, Akash Deep 2-55) vs Bengal