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Rest struggle to avoid follow-on

Rest of India were struggling to avoid a follow-on at 213 for six in reply to Bombay's 473 on Friday, the third day of the Irani Trophy at the Wankhede Stadium.

Score Board Rest of India First Innings G Khoda b Pawar 59 N Sidhu b Mhambrey 5 V Raju c Muzumdar b Bahutule 21 V V S Laxman c Pagnis b Bahutule 1 P Dharmani c Muzumdar b Bahutule 0 S Sharath c Pagnis b Pawar 59 N Mongia batting 49 A Kapoor batting 8 Extra (10 nb, one lb) 11 Total: 213 for six wkts off 94 overs Fall Of Wickets: 1/17, 2/69, 3/90, 4/90, 5/90, 6/192 Bowling: Mhambrey 12-4-33-1, Agarkar 16-3-40-0, Bahutule 31-9-60-3, Patel 09-2-18-0, Pawar 25-5-51-2, Muzumdar 01-0-10-0 Bombay First Innings W Jaffer c Khoda b Kumble 83 A Pagnis c Khoda b Ganesh 2 J Paranjpe c Kumble b Kapoor 113 S Manjrekar c Kumble b Raju 27 A Muzumdar c Kapoor b Kumble 97 S Kulkarni b Raju 0 A Agarkar c Khoda b Kumble 7 S Bahutule c Laxman b Kapoor 71 R Pawar run out 28 M Patel c Khoda b Kumble 4 Extras (7b, 6 lb, one wb) 14 Total: 473 off 177.5 overs Fall Of Wickets: 1/15, 2/155, 3/227, 4/229, 5/229, 6/244, 7/374, 8/426, 9/442. Bowling: Ganesh 23-8-56-1, Robin 23-4-59-0, Raju 36-8-116-2, Kapoor 37-7-88-2, Kumble 57.5-17-140-4, Laxman 1-0-1-0

Indian Test wicket-keeper Nayan Mongia on a gritty 49 and Aashish Kapoor on eight were digging in, trying to make the requisite 61 runs to make Bombay bat again. The match still has two days to go.

The team seemed to be cruising along in the morning as Venkatpathy Raju, sent in as night watchman, occupied the crease for 90 minutes. He and top scorer Gagan Khoda (69) added 52 runs off 24.1 overs when disaster struck.

Raju was caught at silly point, Khoda, V V S Laxman (1) and Pankaj Dharmani (0) went swiftly in the space of 10 balls. Rajesh Pawar took Khoda's wicket, while Sairaj Bahutule bagged three wickets. But it was more bad batting than good bowling that put the Rest in the dock.

In the post-lunch session, Tamil Nadu southpaw S Sharath and Mongia stonewalled for 30 overs, adding only 67 runs but, more importantly, halting the slide. Sharath, who scored 59, occasionally displayed his elegant drives, which bagged him nine boundaries. He was just coming into his element when Pawar beat him in the air and forced him to sky the ball into the hands of long off.

Bahutule seldom beat the bat though he finished with three for 60. Pawar had less success, but for some missed chances of Mongia and Kapoor. When Mongia was on 40, he drove early and Wasim Jaffer in the deep reacted late going for the catch. Skipper Sanjay Manjrekar also let a slash from Kapoor slip through his clutches in the slips.

In the morning Khoda kept puncturing the field with well-timed cover drives off medium pacer Paras Mhambrey. He was rarely troubled by either pace or spin during his 145-minute stay. But he played all over a ball pitched farther up and swinging and was bowled at 90.

Raju, who was a batsman during his junior cricket days, enjoyed holding back Bombay for 99 minutes. He showed confidence playing the 77 balls he faced, scoring 21 runs.

But the batsmen following him showed no patience. Laxman, after playing 24 balls, turned a Bahutule delivery straight into the hands of Pagnis at short leg. Dharmani went for a cover drive, failed to keep it down, and lost his wicket.

The wicket is still playing easy, but was not suited for the flashy play the Rest displayed. If this duo can hold on for some more time -- not impossible on this pitch -- there is no reason they can't take their team past the danger mark of 273 on Saturday.

On Thursday, a patient 97 by Amol Muzumdar helped Bombay put up the respectable total of 473. Jatin Paranjpe with a maiden 113 and Wasim Jaffer with 83 were the other contributors in Bombay's total. Muzumdar, one of Ramakant Achrekar's proteges, missed his first ton in three Irani Trophy appearances when he faced a brute ball from Rest of India captain Anil Kumble. The leg-spinner finished with figures of 4 for 140, but that did not look good enough on a slow pitch with the occasional vicious bounce.

The Rest bowlers were beating the batsmen on a pitch that kicked and stalled. One rising delivery from Kumble took Ajit Agarkar's edge and Khoda snapped up his third catch. Agarkar added just two runs to his overnight five.

But Muzumdar and Bahutale hung around pulling the score from 244 to 374, remaining unseparated till one hours after lunch. At Bahutale's fall, Pawar came in, and played a charming knock of 26 before getting run out.

Bahutale has shown terrific grit to be part of the competitive Bombay team. The leggie was in the car crash that killed Vivek Singh, ghazal singer Jasjit Singh's son, seven years ago; the accident left him with an iron rod in his leg. But it that did not show anywhere in his 163-ball effort with the bat.

The Bombay tail wagged ferociously, with Mhambrey cracking a six each off Kumble and Kapoor in his unbeaten 27.