On the first day of the Irani Trophy 2024 at Lucknow, Mumbai rallied thanks to three of their middle-order batters scoring half-centuries. Mumbai finished the day with 237/4, having at one point been reduced to 37/3. Fortunately, they were able to overcome that dangerous situation and end the day strongly.
Mukesh Kumar’s initial few blows supported Ruturaj Gaikwad’s choice to bowl first. Using the movement in the surface early on, the pacer struck twice in his second over. A diving Devdutt Padikkal took an outside edge Mukesh instigated from a showy Prithvi Shaw at second slip. He had Hardik Tamore sneaking out and edging to the wicketkeeper Dhruv Jurel a few balls later in the same over.
Ajinkya Rahane, the captain, and opener Ayush Mathre launched a quick comeback with some clean drives. But just as the duo was settled in, Mukesh came back and startled Mathre with a bouncer first ball. Jurel pouched onto an intuitive pull that only produced a top edge.
Mumbai’s most seasoned players, Rahane and Shreyas Iyer, came together while the side was under pressure. Iyer relaxed in as the spinners were brought on, despite being put to the test early on with several short balls, including taking a hard blow to the body from Mukesh.
Following a brief short ball phase that saw Yash Dayal and Prasidh Krishna, Iyer was able to play some release shots when Mukesh returned and overpitched a couple. He lofted him handsomely over cover for six after flicking him for a four.
Iyer ended his innings when he hammered a half-volley from Dayal straight to cover, but the captain kept up the same pace. Mumbai had recovered from a slight inconvenience thanks to the 102-run stand, but they were still not in a comfortable position.
After being cut from India’s Test team, Sarfaraz Khan began extremely cautiously. He started by taking a few steers off Mukesh via the boundaries’ third man area and gradually started to make his way inside. He was nervous at first, but in the last session he started to open up, especially against the spinners. Suthar was played with by Sarfaraz as he scored three straight boundaries against the spinner with late dabs and a forceful sweep.
Brief Scores: Mumbai 237/4 (Ajinkya Rahane 86*, Shreyas Iyer 57, Sarfaraz Khan 54*; Mukesh Kumar 3-60) vs Rest of India
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