Shardul Thakur stars as Mumbai beat Chhattisgarh in Vijay Hazare Trophy

Shardul Thakur’s four-wicket burst and Shams Mulani’s five-for helped Mumbai beat Chhattisgarh by nine wickets in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Angkrish Raghuvanshi and Siddhesh Lad guided the chase as Mumbai consolidated their lead in Group C with 12 points

Jaipur: Skipper Shardul Thakur ticked all the boxes, right from winning the toss to blowing away the Chhattisgarh top order with a match-winning four-wicket burst, as Mumbai cruised to a nine-wicket victory to complete a group-stage hat-trick in the Vijay Hazare Trophy here on Monday.

At the Jaipuria Vidyalaya ground, Shardul won the toss and used the early morning nip to good effect, reducing Chhattisgarh to 10 for four inside the first five overs.

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Chhattisgarh never recovered from the blow and were bowled out for 142 in 38.1 overs.

While Shardul wreaked havoc in the first half-hour, left-arm spinner Shams Mulani (5/31) demolished the latter half of the Chhattisgarh batting by bowling quick and stump-to-stump. The last six wickets tumbled for just 27 runs.

The chase was a cakewalk as Angkrish Raghuvanshi (68 not out off 66 balls) along with veteran Siddhesh Lad (48 not out off 42 balls) added 102 runs for the unbroken second wicket to wrap it up in just 24 overs.

Mumbai, with 12 points, consolidated their position on top of Group C.

The day belonged to skipper Shardul (4/13 in 5 overs). He struck with the very second ball, dismissing opener Ayush Tiwary caught by Sarfaraz Khan in the slips. Off the last ball of the opening over, one-drop Mayank Verma (3) was clean bowled. In his next two overs, Sarfaraz again got into the act with two regulation slip catches off away-going deliveries.

Skipper Amandeep Khare (63) and all-rounder Ajay Mandal (46) did show stomach for a fight with a 105-run fifth-wicket stand. However, once Mandal was dismissed by Mulani, the remaining wickets fell quickly.

Chasing the total, Raghuvanshi, the young KKR star who batted with a bandage patch on the side of his neck, looked in good touch, hitting six fours and two sixes. He received guidance from senior pro Lad, who also seemed in fine nick.

“All thanks to our physio Suresh who helped me a lot. I had a bad fall but I feel much better now,” Raghuvanshi told reporters, referring to his hospitalization after an on-field injury in the last game versus Uttarakhand.

On the match front, he felt that while his skipper exploited early help from the surface, it became a “batting paradise” later on.

The youngster, a protégé of KKR head coach Abhishek Nayar, also spoke about his experience of batting with Rohit Sharma.

“Out of a 141-run stand (earlier game), I got 40. Just taking singles and giving him strike, watching him from the other end felt like a movie,” Raghuvanshi said with a broad grin.

On the personal front, he is trying to upskill himself by adding wicketkeeping to his repertoire, with the growing trend of utility players getting preference.

“I am really enjoying keeping. It is challenging but it makes you feel that you are always in the game,” the U19 World Cup winner said.

So are we looking at KKR’s new wicketkeeper during the 2026 season?

“That you will find out in due time,” he smiled while signing off.

Brief Scores: Chhattisgarh 142 in 38.1 overs (Amandeep Khare 63, Shardul Thakur 4/13, Shams Mulani 5/31). Mumbai 144/1 in 24 overs (Angkrish Raghuvanshi 66 not out, Siddhesh Lad 48 not out).