Master batsman Sachin Tendulkar ended his domestic career in fitting fashion, guiding Mumbai to a four-wicket win over Haryana in the Ranji Trophy here Wednesday.
Mumbai, resuming the day on 201/6, were made to work hard before they got past the 240-run target. Tendulkar (79 not out) and Dhawal Kulkarni (16 not out) needed close to two hours to get the job done on a tricky wicket.
The quiet little town of Lahli was the centre of attraction for the past week with Tendulkar playing his final domestic match leading up to his farewell Test series against the West Indies beginning Nov 6 in Kolkata.
Tendulkar said he enjoyed the experience.
"It was a challenging wicket. It had a lot for the bowlers. It was fun to bat on this," Tendulkar said. "Slow outfield too, so it might be 240 on paper, but it is 280 anywhere else. This is just the kind of outing I was looking for. It's fun. All about talking cricket, getting to know each other. It was all about keeping each other relaxed."
On the West Indies series, the master said: "The West Indies series will be a good one. Something I will be looking forward to ? my last couple of Test matches. I hope it produces good cricket and lives up to the expectations of all my well-wishers."
The batting legend was kind enough to thank the Lahli crowd who turned up in good number.
"I want to thank the Haryana Cricket Association. I want to thank the security. The police did a great job. Thanks to the people of Lahli. Thank you everyone for making this match memorable for me."
Brief scores:
Group A:
At Rohtak: Haryana 134 all out and 241 all out vs Mumbai 136 all out and 240 for 6 (Pawar 47, Rahane 40, Tendulkar 79 not out; Sharma 2/79). Mumbai won by four wickets.
At Jamshedpur: Jharkhand vs Delhi - match abandoned
At Mohali: Odisha 205 all out and 307 all out (Behera 56, Podder 70, Malick 73; Sharma 3/64, Kaul 2/57) vs Punjab 560 for six decl. Punjab won by an innings and 48 runs.
Group B:
At Indore: Madhya Pradesh 510/6 decl vs Railways 335 and 235/6 (Ghosh 72 not out, Pandey 3/36). Match drawn.
At Rajkot: Saurashtra 475/7 decl vs Rajasthan 136 and 308 all out (Bishno1 106, Saxena 70, Jadeja 4/108). Saurashtra won by an innings and 48 runs.
At Delhi: Tamil Nadu 456/7 decl. and 117/5 (Mukund 33; Nishan Singh 1/19) Services 346 all out (Chatterjee 47, Yashapal Singh 98; Rangarajan 2/68, Balaji 3/56). Match drawn.
Group C:
At Guwahati: Assam 323 all out and 217/9 (Tarjinder Singh 46, Roy 45; Manoharan 3/36, Shahid 3/43). Kerala 362 all out. Match drawn.
At Dharmasala: Himachal Pradesh 558/5 decl. Goa 243 and and 282/2 (Asnodkar 109 not out, Desai 126). Match drawn.
At Hyderabad: Hyderabad 221 all out and 251/6 decl. (Vihari 68 not out, Ravi Teja 37; Suresh 3/32) vs Andhra 185 all out and 51/0. Match drawn.
