Mumbai pace spearhead Shardul Thakur bagged a five wicket haul to skittle out Delhi for 166 on Day 2 of the cricket Ranji Trophy quarterfinals at the Driems Ground, here today.
The bowlers, ably led by Thakur (5-54), kept plugging away wickets to allow Delhi manage a slender 10-run lead in response to Mumbai's 156 in the first innings of the five-day encounter.
The Aditya Tare-led side then came back strongly in the second innings to end the day on 87 for one and manage a crucial lead of 77 runs in what seems to be a low-scoring game.
Tare was caught behind off Pradeep Sangwan in the 15th over of the innings, but opener Akhil Herwadkar (52 not out) and Shreyas Iyer (12 not out) were battling on with a 46-run unbeaten stand.
Thakur's new-ball partner Balwinder Sandhu (2-43) drew first blood after after getting Unmukt Chand caught behind for 15 and soon medium-pacer Wilkin Mota (2-47) trapped captain Gautam Gambhir (5) lbw to put Delhi in trouble.
Shivam Sharma and (30) Virender Sehwag (49) then stitched a 78-run third wicket partnership only to be broken by Thakur's excellence on the field.
On a day that belonged to him, Thakur ran out Sehwag to deny the veteran batsman his 54th first-class half-century.
The run out gave him confidence and Thakur, who bagged his sixth first-class five-wicket haul, started his demolition act by getting Mithun Manhas caught behind for a duck.
But Thakur was unstoppable and the young pacer just cleaned up the Delhi tail in no time.
Brief scores:
Mumbai 156 and 87/1 (Aditya Tare 23, Akhil Herwadkar 52 no out; Pradeep Sangwan 1-16)
Delhi 166 in 54 overs (Virender Sehwag 49, Shivam Sharma 30; Shardul Thakur 5-54).
