Watch: Against Saurashtra in Rajkot in the 2019/20 Ranji Trophy, Suryakumar Yadav slammed 134 in 130 balls to keep Mumbai in the hunt after they conceded a first-innings lead.
There was no Ravindra Jadeja or Jaydev Unadkat, but Dharmendrasinh Jadeja (5-92) led the rout as Mumbai were bowled out for 262 after opting to bat in the Elite Group B match at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Ground.
Shams Mulani (78) and Sarfaraz Khan (60) put on 109 for the fifth wicket, but the last six wickets went down for a mere 55. Prerak Mankad (2-35) trapped Suryakumar leg-before first ball.
Despite Royston Dias’ efforts (4-64) Saurashtra then secured a 73-run lead, riding on Sheldon Jackson’s 85, captain Arpit Vasavada’s 46, and Chirag Jani’s unbeaten 84.
The four-day match was already halfway into the third day, and Mumbai needed to score runs quickly enough to give their bowlers enough time to take 10 wickets. Things looked bleaker for them after Kushang Patel trapped Bhupen Lalwani in the third over.
Suryakumar arrived at this point, and cover-drove the second ball he faced, off Patel, for a delectable boundary. The first fifty took him 51 balls. The second, another 57. The strokes – lofted drives, reverse sweeps – indicated what was in store, albeit in shorter formats.
By the time Jadeja got him lbw, Mumbai had added 217, for the loss of Jay Bista (46). Yadav had scored 134 of these runs (his 14th hundred in first-class cricket), in 130 balls, with 17 fours and three sixes.
With Mulani also making a 98-ball 92, Mumbai declared on 362-7 off only 67 overs, an hour into the last day. Shashank Attarde (3-45) and Mulani (3-47) then reduced Saurashtra to 83-7, but Kamlesh Makwana (31 not out) and Jadeja (33 not out) batted out nearly 40 overs to help Saurashtra cling on to their five points.
Saurashtra went on to lift the Ranji Trophy that season. Mumbai did not even make it to the quarter-finals. Yadav finished the season with 508 runs at 56.44 with two hundreds. With a 500-run cut-off, only Abdul Samad (592 runs at 113) had a better strike rate than Yadav’s 95.
