Ranji: Mumbai’s good beginning at Eden Gardens

Kolkata : A stubborn 152-stand between in form Ajinkya Rahane (110) and seasoned Wasim Jaffer (71) powered Mumbai to 287/4, as Manoj Tiwari’s double strike restored Bengal chances on the opening day of the Ranji Trophy Super League (Group A) match at Eden Gardens here on Wednesday.

The visitors, batting first after winning the toss, were off to a painful start as both the openers–Omkar Gaurav (38) and Sushanta Marathe (11)–were dismissed early.

Marathe fell short of his crease following a powerful throw from Sourashish Lahiri, who later scalped the other opener Gaurav.

Their depature united captain Jaffer and Rahane. The duo held the innings together and stitched at 152 partnership for the third
wicket.

The two Mumbaikars milked runs at will and looked all set to walk away with Day 1 glory, but rival captain Manoj Tiwari had other plans.

When strike bolwers were ineffective on a pitch, which virtually offered no assistance to the pacers-Ashok Dinda and Ranadeb Bose-, Bengal captain introduced himself to dismiss both the set batsmen- Rahane and Jaffer.

His effort gave Bengal a chance to stage a comeback in the four-day face off.

Reduced to sideline in the opening game against Saurashtra due to an injury, Rahane made a sparkling comeback and conjured up his 15th first class ton.

The 22-year-old looked in sublime touch during his 250-ball knock of 110 which was adorned with 15 well struck boundaries.

His captain, former Indian opener, smashed 73 runs from 165 deliveries with assistance of eleven hits to the fence.