Mumbai batsman Siddhesh Lad scored a wild 116 against Jammu and Kashmir Srinagar:Siddhesh Lad was dropped without a ball at the start of his innings but his focus did not fail. The 33-year-old tightened up the defense and then barely bowled a free shot to bring up his 11th first-class century, playing a key role in Mumbai finishing 336/5 on day one against Jammu & Kashmir in their Ranji Trophy Elite Group D opener at Sher-I-Kashmir on Wednesday.With the sun shining brightly and the pitch settling down, the guests stepped on the gas pedal. Reduced to 74/3 in the 23rd over, Lad, known as the crisis man in Mumbai circles as he often played wall shots, led the revival with his 156-ball 116 that included 17 fours and three sixes, supported by Sarfaraz Khan (42, 48b; 679*x4) and Sham1x6, 6m. 125; 8×4, 1×6) to get Mumbai back on track.The resurrection began after lunch where Sarfaraz shared a 67-run stand for the fourth wicket to put J&K on the back foot. Sarfaraz timed the ball smartly, batted aggressively and looked set for another big score, but against the run of play he was run out by J&K skipper Paras Dogra’s direct throw.If the hosts thought they would go through the Mumbai line-up after the dismissal, Mumbai nipped that idea in the bud as Lad combined with Mulani to score at a brisk pace to keep the pressure on their opponents. They put on a 180-ball 159 for the fifth wicket before Lad was out to put Mumbai in a comfortable position.So comfortable was he at the crease that Lad never looked like getting out as his confidence grew with every ball he bowled. But he was overwhelmed in his effort to beat left-arm spinner Abid Mushtaq (1/73). “That was the only ball that spun all day. Even the bowler was surprised,” Lad justified his dismissal at the end of the game.Despite initial jitters, the right-arm batsman was hardly troubled as he brought all his experience to the fore, helping him deal with the testing conditions at the start of his innings before opening his arms to tame the J&K bowlers. He wasn’t afraid to leave his crease against the spinners and played some wonderful strokes and broke the pacers to prevent them from dominating.“There was a lot of grass on the pitch and the conditions were favorable for the bowlers at the start. After lunch the wicket loosened up and I decided to take an aggressive approach to put the pressure back on them,” Lad said of his plans.Earlier, a cooler climate and a greenish wicket meant pacers were all over Mumbai in the first session. They bowled a tight string and a length but would have been happier to have picked more wickets by lunch than the three they eventually managed to take.
Vote
How do you rate Siddhesh Lad’s performance during the first day of the Ranji Trophy match?
Invited to bat, Mumbai lost Musheer Khan (0) on the third ball of the day and caught right-arm pacer Auqib Nabi (1/43), who bowled relentlessly throughout the day without much luck, including the no-ball cast of Lada. Their bowlers kept probing but Ayush Mhatre (28, 55b) and Ajinkya Rahane (27, 66b) anchored the innings and ignored the chatter around them and survived huge challenges to put on a 109-ball 61 run-partnership for the second wicket to settle their nerves and more importantly in the new dressing room, viz.But just when it looked like they were taking Mumbai to lunch with just one wicket down, both were back in the pavilion in the space of four overs, dismissed by right-arm pacer Yudhvir Singh (2/82), who conceded 12 in his first over before changing ends and leaving both batsmen caught off guard. Mhatre, who Rahane asked to play straight a few overs earlier after he flashed one delivery that flew over the slips, popped out and headed back to the pavilion in the 19th over. Rahane’s vigil came to an end in the 23rd minute when he bowled the unplayable wicketkeeper Kanhaiya Wadhawan.“We still have some good batsmen like Tanush (Kotian) and Shardul (Thakur) ahead of us, so we will try to stretch the score as much as possible,” said Lad, detailing the team’s plans for the second day.A brief scoreBombay: 336/5 in 83 overs (Siddhesh Lad 116, Sarfaraz Khan 42, Shams Mulani 79 not out; Yudhvir Singh 2/82) vs Jammu & Kashmir
