Mumbai beat Hyderabad by nine wickets in Ranji Trophy

Mumbai defeated Hyderabad by nine wickets in the Ranji Trophy Elite Group D match at Hyderabad. Chama Milind’s fighting 85 helped avert an innings defeat, but Musheer Khan’s five wickets and Sarfaraz Khan’s overall show sealed Mumbai’s dominance

Hyderabad: Chama Milind played one of his best knocks (85, 128b, 12×4, 2×6) but it only delayed the inevitable as Mumbai notched up a nine-wicket win in the Ranji Trophy Elite Group D league match at Rajiv Gandhi Stadium here on Sunday.

Hyderabad, resuming at the overnight score of 166 for seven to avoid an innings defeat, had the satisfaction of averting it thanks to No 8 and southpaw Milind and his two fighting stands with the tail.

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First, Milind and debutant Nitin Sai Yadav (32, 57b, 6×4) put on 69 runs for the eighth wicket and then added another 61 runs with India fast bowler and Hyderabad captain Mohammed Siraj (32, 36b, 5×4, 1×6) for the ninth wicket.

Mumbai attacked a bit too much in the first hour and paid the price by conceding easy boundaries even as Milind refused to give up.

Unleashing his trademark inside-out strokes in the ‘V’ with a touch of class, Milind combined belligerence with fine temperament. The straight six off pacer Onkar Tarmale was stunning, and later he launched another massive one over long-on off left-arm spinner Musheer Khan, who finished with impressive figures of five for 79.

Even Nitin was fearless in going for some audacious strokes. After Nitin was snapped up at short-leg off Musheer Khan (235/8 in 55.5 overs), Hyderabad still faced the risk of an innings defeat.

Soon Siraj hit the ball all around before Onkar cleaned him up at 296, but by then the first objective — avoiding the innings defeat — was achieved.

However, Milind missed what would have been a thoroughly deserving century by lofting one to the fielder in the deep.

Later, Mumbai completed the formalities of chasing 10 runs but missed the bonus point when opener Akhil Herwadkar was stumped by Rahul Radesh off left-arm spinner Nitin Sai Yadav.

Mumbai now has 30 points and Hyderabad 13 from six matches each, with one round still to go in the league phase.

The scores: Mumbai 560 in 123.2 overs & 12/1 in 3.2 overs bt Hyderabad 267 in 82.2 overs & 302 in 69.5 overs (Rahul Singh 33, K Himateja 43, Chama Milind 85, Nitin Sai Yadav 32, Mohammed Siraj 32, Onkar Tarmale 2/48, Mohit Avasthi 3/47, Musheer Khan 5/79).

Player of the match: Sarfaraz Khan.