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Match facts

Saturday, May 19, 2012
Start time 1600 (1030 GMT)Adam Gilchrist wasted no time in finding his rhythm after an injury layoff•AFP

Big Picture

Kings XI Punjab’s sternest test has been left for last. They came into their final two games needing to win both, first against the defending champions and then this year’s form team, to have any chance of progressing to the playoffs. They duly trampled Chennai Super Kings in Dharamsala to remain in contention, and will need to repeat the performance against Delhi Daredevils on Saturday. Even if they do, they will have to hope for a couple of other results to go their way, to secure their place in the final four.Getting past Daredevils, needless to say, will be a tough proposition. The teams met on Tuesday for the first time, with Daredevils securing an easy five-wicket win. Kings XI did well to pick up four early wickets to give themselves a fighting chance of defending 136, but in the final analysis, their batsmen let them down. They turned it around against Super Kings with a fine bowling effort in seaming conditions. Kings XI’s ground fielding, though, wasn’t impressive.Daredevils fell short by 21 runs in a high-scorer at the Feroz Shah Kotla against Royal Challengers Bangalore. Their bowlers had a tough outing, taking just one wicket and leaking 215. Virender Sehwag sat out due to an illness and Morne Morkel was rested. Their return for the final league match is uncertain. Daredevils can still experiment, considering they’re already through to the playoffs and have made sure they’ll have the added benefit of finishing in the top two. Daredevils’ batting looked vulnerable in spicier bowling conditions in Chennai recently. Dharamsala may not give them much respite.

Form guide

Kings XI Punjab: WLWWL (most recent first, completed games)
Delhi Daredevils: LWLWL

Players to watch

Adam Gilchrist had to sit out nine matches to allow his torn hamstring to heal. The wait was worth it as he hammered an unbeaten 64 against Super Kings to pilot Kings XI’s chase, and there were no signs of rustiness as he brought out his trademark cuts and slogs.It had been a sleepy tournament for Ross Taylor until his aggressive 55 off 26 balls at the Kotla against Royal Challengers. Taylor was the only half-centurion for Daredevils in their chase of 216 and his wicket turned out to be the most prized of the evening. His return to form has strengthened Daredevils’ middle-order, which had seemed in dodgy form after Kevin Pietersen’s departure.

Stats and trivia

• Daredevils have the second-best strike-rate this season: 132.35, behind only Royal Challengers Bangalore
• Kings XI’s current leading run-scorer and wicket-taker are Indian players: Mandeep Singh (432 runs) and Parvinder Awana (17 wickets)
  

  Quotes

  “We are underdogs, and we have still managed to beat all the big teams. We always believed in our game and played hard cricket.

ScorecardMichael Lumb made his second century for Nottinghamshire since joining over the winter•Getty Images

When a fellow scores 162 it seems ridiculous to focus on the guy who makes only 2 but, on this occasion, it is unavoidable, given that their fortunes managed to intertwine. Michael Lumb made 162, Andrew Strauss 2.Needless to say, it is a score the England captain hoped he might exceed, especially after what had happened earlier. He owed his side a few runs, having dropped Lumb twice in two balls – on 95 and 99, both times off the medium pace of Neil Dexter – and put down Steven Mullaney, who made 61, on 34.Strauss’s latest brief encounter with county bowlers came at the end of a long day for Middlesex, who had watched Nottinghamshire put their own patchy batting form behind them to total 423, claiming maximum batting points after managing only one in total from their five previous matches.At the heart of this, clearly, was Lumb, who probably had a month’s worth of good fortune in one go after Middlesex revealed ways not to get him out that were not limited to Strauss’s error-prone day at first slip.The only consolation for Strauss, albeit a hollow one, was that he was not the sole guilty party. Taking catches at slip is always relatively difficult; holding steeplers at mid-on is meat and drink, yet Tim Murtagh dropped an absolute sitter there off Ollie Rayner, the tall off-spinner, when Lumb had made 86, just over half his final tally.Murtagh’s mistake, therefore, was the costlier, allowing Lumb the opportunity for another 76 runs. But with 27 added for his Mullaney mishap, when Rayner was again the man inclined to emit a shriek of frustration, Strauss trumped him with 94.He did hold on to a couple, it should be said. But, all in all, Strauss would not, you imagine, have been in the best frame of mind to face Stuart Broad under the Trent Bridge floodlights, without which he probably would not have made it beyond the indoor nets, such was the dark gloom cast by a leaden sky.Strauss has his own personal cloud, in any event. Yet it was not Broad who dealt another blow to his quest for runs, but Harry Gurney, a left-arm seamer he had never before encountered.Gurney, who followed James Taylor in moving from Leicestershire to Nottinghamshire during the winter, was signed primarily with one-day cricket in mind but made a good impression after filling in for Andre Adams against Somerset last month and is keeping the more experienced Luke Fletcher out of the team in this match.Quicker than Strauss might have expected, Gurney troubled the England captain more than Broad had in his opening over and claimed his wicket with the first ball of his second, drawing the left-hander to fence at one outside off stump and give Chris Read a low catch.Strauss will not need reminding that he has only one Test century in his last 50 innings, so often has that statistic been repeated. The other one he will be disappointed with is 57 runs from his four supposedly recuperative innings for Middlesex.Gurney did not add a second wicket but Andre Adams weighed in with two, bringing his tally for the season to 30, and Middlesex have some way to go even to reach the follow-on target of 274.Lumb might also have been stumped, off Rayner on 148, but given that he batted for six and a half hours and hit 23 boundaries, some handsome strokes among them, it would be churlish, really, to suggest he was lucky. This was his second century for Nottinghamshire, whom he joined from Hampshire in the winter, and will confirm his liking for Trent Bridge, which was the backdrop to his career-best 219 in 2009.His partnership with Alex Hales for the second wicket was worth 150 and he helped Riki Wessels put on a further 83 for the third. Lumb and Mullaney then added 95 for the fourth before Murtagh, at mid-off, belatedly put right his earlier mistake.Mullaney enjoyed himself hugely, achieving the not inconsiderable feat of hooking Gareth Berg over the tall Bridgford Road stand for six. His 60 off 95 balls, supplemented by some enthusiastic late-order biffing, notably from Adams, took Nottinghamshire past 400 in the first innings for the first time at Trent Bridge since last July.Steven Finn, the other Middlesex player with England on his mind, ended with four wickets but struggled for line and rhythm and conceded 14 boundaries. Then again, he is only 22 and his days under a cloud can be more readily excused.

ScorecardRichard Jones was the chief beneficiary of Notts’ poor shot selection, picking up 6 for 32•Getty Images

It is never wise to pronounce judgment on the performance of one batting line-up, however dismal, until their opponents have responded. Yet Worcestershire’s dismissal for 130, giving them an advantage of 12, made Nottinghamshire’s paltry effort look no better.Poor returns from their top order undermined them almost at every turn last year, undoing their hopes of defending the County Championship title they had won in 2010, which left their supporters disappointed even if it confirmed to others that their victory had somewhat overstated their quality.The winter arrivals of Michael Lumb, experienced and yet still hungry, and the prodigiously talented James Taylor, captain of the England Lions, were supposed to put that right and in time they might. Yet evidence of that was not obviously visible after Worcestershire won the toss and put them in, the loss of opener Alex Hales to the fourth ball of the day setting in train an array of poorly judged strokes, interspersed with a few decent balls, that led them to a total only one run better than their worst of 2011.It was not what Chris Read, the Nottinghamshire captain, had in mind when he boldly announced that he had the best Nottinghamshire batting line-up since 2005, when they won the title under the leadership of Stephen Fleming, the New Zealand captain, and three batsmen — Jason Gallian, David Hussey and Darren Bicknell — each scored more than 1100 runs.Conditions were plainly not easy. Yet on a cloudy, chilly morning that had been preceded by two days of rain, nobody can have expected anything different and in the event Lumb and Taylor were merely new names in an otherwise entirely familiar script.In defence of Lumb, whose last memory of Trent Bridge was a double hundred here for Hampshire in 2009 (albeit August), the ball that undid him was not at all bad, David Lucas, the Worcestershire debutant who began his career here, drawing him forward to defend against a ball that left him very late.But Taylor, perhaps, might consider on reflection that he could have been more patient. Arriving at 17 for 2, he dispatched his sixth ball to the fence past point but, trying the same shot again, could only find the fielder there two balls later.Taylor was one of six victims for Richard Jones, at 26 the junior member of Worcestershire’s seam attack. The tireless Alan Richardson, who will be 37 next month, may have lost one fellow warhorse with the retirement of Matt Mason but 33-year-old Lucas is another who thrives on cold April mornings.Jones was the chief beneficiary of Nottinghamshire’s carelessness, finishing with 6 for 32.Nottinghamshire’s embarrassment could have been deeper. Neil Edwards, given the nod to open ahead of Karl Turner, was unlucky, well forward when victim of an lbw decision that would probably not have been given only a short time ago, but otherwise only Paul Franks, with 16 seasons’ experience of playing on these wickets, emerged from the wreckage with his head held high, finishing unbeaten on 51.It was an opportunity for Worcestershire, who lost their first six matches last year, to register some early defiance after again being installed as relegation favourites. Yet their batting proved scarcely less fragile, even if, in their case, the wickets were more down to good bowling.The Australian Michael Klinger, shaped up neatly for a while on debut, suggesting he might provide an innings to stand out. But he fell for 29 and Worcestershire seldom looked good thereafter for anything more than a slender lead as Ben Phillips, who struggled to make an impact last season, justified his selection for the place made available by the injury to Darren Pattinson by taking his first three Championship wickets for Nottinghamshire.

Match facts

March 22, 2012
Start time 1400 (0800 GMT)Shakib Al Hasan averages 54.50 with the bat and 22.29 with the ball in ODI wins•AFP

Big Picture

Just how momentous is Bangladesh’s passage to the Asia Cup final? Decide for yourself after reading these figures. In nine previous tournaments, Bangladesh had played 29 matches and won two, against Hong Kong and UAE. Out of three games this time, they have won two, against World Cup 2011 finalists India and Sri Lanka, and lost a close match to Pakistan.For Bangladesh’s tireless supporters, starved of success but never lacking in passion, this is like finding an oasis in a desert. A sea of the darker shade of green will be cheering every run that Bangladesh score tomorrow and every Pakistan wicket that falls. Victory won’t be demanded, though; an appearance in the final is already a windfall for the fan.How will the Bangladesh players approach this game, probably the biggest in their careers so far? Apart from blanking New Zealand some time ago at home, this is the first time they have put together consistently solid performances for three games running against world-class opposition. Will the fourth time prove to be too much? Will the pressure of a final, something they have hardly experienced, restrict the freedom with which they bat? Will their bowling and fielding be able to hold together?Whatever be the result, Bangladesh’s surge to the final holds the promise of another close match. They will fight; if they go down, they will still be heroes. If they win, they’ll become part of folklore in the years to come. Either way, a bit of history has already been created.While tomorrow’s contest pales before the fervour an India-Pakistan final would have generated, Pakistan won’t mind running into Bangladesh. They have relied on their bowling, as they often do, for getting them to the final. The one time their batting appeared to have almost won a game for them, they ran into Virat Kohli.Pakistan have underperformed in the Asia Cup, winning it only once compared to the four titles each won by India and Sri Lanka. A second title beckons tomorrow, unless Bangladesh can ride on the passion and momentum and play beyond themselves again.

Form guide

Bangladesh: WWLLL (most recent first)
Pakistan: LWWLL

In the spotlight

Had Shakib Al Hasan been playing for some of the bigger Test sides, he would have been given a lot more respect than he gets at present. He averages 54.50 with the bat and 22.29 with the ball in ODI wins. He carries the expectations of Bangladesh fans lightly and, more often than not, puts in a telling contribution. He was Man of the Match in the hosts’ wins over India and Sri Lanka and would have got the award against Pakistan had the Bangladesh lower order not collapsed around him. The hosts have found Nasir Hossain, but for the moment, as Shakib goes, so do Bangladesh.Umar Gul helped Pakistan avoid defeat against Bangladesh with a three-wicket burst that included the wickets of Nasir and Shakib. One new ball or two, Gul has found reverse swing. When asked how he was getting such movement with a lush green outfield in Mirpur, he pointed to the dry-looking square. Bangladesh were able to survive the threat of Lasith Malinga on Tuesday. Gul will come hard at them tomorrow, especially after going for runs against India.

Team news

Nazmul Hossain took three wickets against Sri Lanka on his comeback in place of the injured Shafiul Islam. Bangladesh could go in with the same side that beat Sri Lanka.Bangladesh (possible): 1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Nazimuddin, 3 Jahurul Islam, 4 Nasir Hossain, 5 Shakib Al Hasan, 6 Mushfiqur Rahim (capt & wk), 7 Mahmudullah, 8 Mashrafe Mortaza, 9 Abdur Razzak, 10 Nazmul Hossain, 11 Shahadat HossainPakistan played five bowlers against India, but Wahab Riaz, included in place of the specialist wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed, went for 50 in four overs. Sarfraz is expected to return for the final, freeing Umar Akmal of the additional responsibility of keeping wicket.Pakistan (possible): 1 Mohammad Hafeez, 2 Nasir Jamshed, 3 Younis Khan, 4 Umar Akmal, 5 Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), 6 Hammad Azam, 7 Shahid Afridi, 8 Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), 9 Umar Gul, 10 Saeed Ajmal, 11 Aizaz Cheema

Stats and trivia

• Pakistan have made the Asia Cup final for only the third time. They won their previous final (in Dhaka in 2000) by 39 runs. Bangladesh, on the other hand, have made their first final of a multi-nation tournament since reaching the final of the tri-series at home in 2009
• If Bangladesh go on to win the final, they will become only the second team after Australia (in the 2003 World Cup) to beat India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka in a single tournament

Quotes

“I was out of the country and having a holiday when these things were happening. It gave me some rest and mental freshness. I wanted to prove myself in the game after I came back. I worked hard and it’s going alright.”

ScorecardSwapnil Patel steered UAE home with an unbeaten 55•ICC

An unbeaten 55 from Swapnil Patil saw UAE home by four wickets in their World Cricket League Championship tie against Scotland in Sharjah. Chasing 168, UAE slumped to 35 for 4 before a stand of 82 between Patil and Shaiman Anwar did most of the work to get them to the target.Patil won the match with two boundaries to finish with 55 not out – a vital 99-ball innings that anchored the chase. He played second-fiddle for a while with Anwar, who top-scored with 58, striking five fours and a six in his 115-ball innings.The pair dragged the game away from Scotland who were on their way to defending 167 with two early wickets from Gordon Goudie, who dismissed both openers. A wicket and a run out from Safyaan Sharif put UAE in deep trouble before the big stand.Their early efforts with the ball might have given Scotland hope but they never put enough runs on the board, being bowled out in the penultimate over with five players making double figures. Craig Wallace made 40 from number six but three run outs and a collapse of 4 for 18 at the end of the innings saw Scotland fall short of a competitive total.

The Scottish Lions will play seven three-day games against county sides and the MCC as part of their schedule for 2012. The increased fixture list, which includes Scotland’s Intercontinental Cup and CB40 commitments, is the most demanding undertaken by the Associate nation.The senior squad will also attend a training camp in Sri Lanka ahead of their attempts to secure a spot at the World Twenty20 in later this year. Scotland are set to be involved in at least seven T20 matches during the qualifiers in Dubai in March.Three of Scotland’s games in 2012 will have one-day international status, including a fixture against England that will take place on August 12 in Edinburgh.”The increase in game time for both the national and Lions sides is a vital part of our development,” Scotland head coach Peter Steindl said. “The schedule will provide all of our players with the chance to develop their skills in pressurised environments. We are looking forward to the challenge that 2012 will provide us.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Tillakaratne Dilshan finally batted with his usual freedom•AFP

It took Sri Lanka three consecutive defeats to get their batsmen firing in unison. Tillakaratne Dilshan finally played with freedom to give the chase momentum, Dinesh Chandimal anchored it in the middle overs, and Thisara Perera stunned South Africa with sustained hitting to overhaul a stiff target in Kimberley. Perera had also struck crucial blows earlier with the ball, making South Africa lose their way in the final quarter of their innings, when 350 had looked achievable at one stage.In the end, that late batting stumble on a flat pitch was where South Africa lost the game, after having been 171 for 1 in the 24th over and 242 for 3 in the 39th. They did have Sri Lanka requiring more than 100 at close to seven an over but the visitors always had wickets in hand, and Perera sealed the chase with a volley of sixes. He also pressurised South Africa’s fielding, which unravelled in a series of dropped chances and missed run-outs.Perera, playing his first game of the series, was promoted ahead of Angelo Mathews with Sri Lanka on 194 for 4 at the start of the batting Powerplay. When Perera was trapped lbw by Wayne Parnell off the sixth ball he faced, it looked like Sri Lanka had only heaped more pressure on Mathews. But Parnell was found to have overstepped by a big margin on referral, and it was to be Perera’s night. He almost hit his next delivery straight back to Robin Peterson but recovered to slam the next two for a six and a four.Perera swung the game in Sri Lanka’s favour with consecutive blows over the midwicket boundary off Peterson in the 43rd over, the second bringing up his maiden ODI fifty off 30 deliveries. With 34 now needed off 42, Perera soon took Sri Lanka to the highest ODI total in Kimberley with a straight six off JP Duminy in the 49th over.

Smart stats

• This is the sixth time overall and the first time against South Africa that Sri Lanka have managed to chase down a target of 300 or more. It is also their first successful chase over 300 since their win over India in Nagpur in 2009.

• South Africa suffered their first defeat at the venue in six matches. It is also the first time they have batted first in Kimberley. In their previous meeting against Sri Lanka at the venue in 2002, they won by eight wickets.

• Thisara Perera’s 69 came off only 44 balls. The strike rate of 156.81 is the highest for a Sri Lankan batsman against South Africa for an innings of fifty or over. It is also his first half-century in ODIs.

• Tillakaratne Dilshan scored only his third half-century since the World Cup. In 20 innings, he has scored just 399 runs at 19.95.

• AB de Villiers’ 96 is the second-highest score by a South African captain in a defeat after Graeme Smith’s 141 against England in 2009. de Villiers’ strike rate of 126.31 is second on the list of top strike rates for fifty-plus innings by South African captains in losses.

That Perera had a manageable asking-rate to contend with was down to Dilshan. With his captaincy on the line, and having made 0, 0 and an uncharacteristically subdued 33 in the first three ODIs, Dilshan’s approach was anything but muted. His fluent 83-run partnership with Kumar Sangakkara set the tone for Sri Lanka’s response.South Africa tried to bounce Dilshan out but he pulled his second delivery for four, whipped his fourth over square leg for six and soon scooped Vernon Philander for six over fine leg. Despite Upul Tharanga falling early to Tsotsobe, Dilshan and Sangakkara never allowed the asking-rate to climb over six.Sangakkara’s first attempt to take on the left-arm spin of Peterson seemed to have paid off when he lofted the bowler cleanly towards the midwicket boundary. But Alviro Petersen pulled off an astounding leaping catch near the rope and Sangakkara could scarcely believe his misfortune.Chandimal ensured Sri Lanka did not lose momentum. Two balls after Sangakkara fell, Chandimal stepped out to slam Peterson over the long-on boundary. Both Dilshan and Chandimal kept taking singles, and the stand was already worth 68 before Dilshan slapped Tsotsobe straight to short extra cover to depart for 87.Lahiru Thirimanne followed soon but Perera arrived to take control of the innings, and despite Chandimal falling to Tsotsobe for 59, he ensured Sri Lanka had enough firepower to register their first win of the series.It was Perera who brought Sri Lanka back after de Villiers had threatened to blow them away in a feast of exquisite boundary hitting. Perera removed Duminy and de Villiers in successive overs as South Africa stumbled from 242 for 3 to an ultimately underwhelming 299. Until de Villiers fell for 96 in the 41st over, South Africa had control over a listless Sri Lanka attack and were racing towards a total of about 350.The under-pressure Graeme Smith made only his second half-century in 17 innings and his 84-run opening partnership with Alviro Petersen prepared a solid base for the middle order. de Villiers promoted himself to No. 3 and raced to 50 off 31 deliveries, peppering the extra-cover boundary with lofted shots.Smith, who had been subdued throughout the series, was allowed to find much-needed form as Sri Lanka fed his strength by bowling on leg stump. From the moment he worked Lasith Malinga for consecutive boundaries, through fine leg and midwicket in the third over, Smith’s struggle was over. In all, 57 of Smith’s 68 runs came on the leg side.While Smith had the poor lines to cash in on, de Villiers needed no help from the bowlers. He put on a display of effortless hitting, making room and carving the offspin of Sachithra Senanayake and Dilshan over extra cover. It made no difference where the spinners bowled – even deliveries fired in on leg stump met with the same fate as they disappeared over extra cover.Kulasekara gave the visitors some respite when he trapped Colin Ingram leg-before. The scoring-rate, which was comfortably above seven, now started dipping. Duminy was unable to keep up the pace, and even de Villiers tapered off, making his final 46 runs off 45 deliveries.After Perera’s double-strike, Faf du Plessis came and went, but the lower order sensibly batted out the remaining overs to push South Africa to one short of 300. As it turned out, they hadn’t budgeted for Perera’s six-hitting prowess.

The Orissa Cricket Association has lifted the suspension it slapped on wicketkeeper-batsman Halhadar Das for the rest of the season, but has refrained from reinstating him as the team’s Ranji captain.Natraj Behera, who led the side in Das’ absence against Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, has been retained as the captain, while Biplab Samantray will be his deputy. Subhrajit Sahoo, who performed keeping duties in Das’s absence, is set to return to the fringes.Das, who was in Mohali for the fixture against Punjab from November 10, was handed the punishment after reportedly skipping a team dinner and going out drinking on the eve of the match.Squad: Natraj Behera (capt), Bikas Pati, Paresh Patel, Niranjan Behera, Abhilash Mallick, Biplab Samantaray (vice-capt), Deepak Behera, Halhadar Das (wk), Subit Biswal, Basant Mohanty, Alok Mangaraj, Dhiraj Singh, Jayanta Behera, Preetamjeet Das, Subhrajit Sahoo (wk), Lagnajit Sama, Santosh Jena

The England performance programme (EPP) squad travel to India next month and director David Parsons hopes to use the trip to enhance the players’ skills on the subcontinent.Batsman, spin bowlers and wicketkeepers will attend a training camp in Pune and Mumbai ahead of selection for the England Lions tours of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in 2012. Parsons believes the trip will provide vital experience for England’s rising stars.”India, statistically if you speak to any past England player, is the most difficult place to go and win,” Parsons told the ECB website. “Obviously, England haven’t got a great record out there in recent years, so we thought that would be a good place to go.”The trip follows England’s 5-0 defeat in the one-day series in India during October and poor performance at the World Cup in March, hosted in the subcontinent, which ended in a 10-wicket defeat to Sri Lanka in the quarter-final.Test captain Andrew Strauss will be among three senior England players joining the training camps ahead of England’s Test series against Pakistan in January.Matt Prior and Eoin Morgan, who has spent the last two months recovering from a shoulder injury which ruled him out of the India trip, will also travel with the EPP squad to begin acclimatisation for the tour to UAE.”The density of population, the traffic, the heat, the humidity; the types of pitches they will be playing on and the stadiums will be very unfamiliar to players,” said Parsons, “We want to give more familiarity with that environment. There will be a heavy emphasis on skills development from both the spin bowlers’ perspective and the batsmen perspective as well. To be effective, especially against spin, is an area where we haven’t been particularly strong.”The EPP squad includes several players who have been involved with senior England teams. Jonny Bairstow, who was part of the England team that lost in India last month; Alex Hales, the Nottinghamshire batsman with four Twenty20 caps; and James Taylor, who is set for a move from Leicestershire to Nottinghamshire, are all in the squad.

625 (Nayar 243, Rohit 100, Pankaj 5-111)
Scorecard
Relief was writ large on Abhishek Nayar’s face when he helped Mumbai overtake Rajasthan’s first-innings score•Fotocorp

The picture of the match was a moment of pure synchronicity. Abhishek Nayar, the best batsman, caressed a square drive between point and cover off Pankaj Singh, the best bowler. Nayar and his partner Iqbal Abdulla completed a single as the ball raced past the square boundary. Then, unbeknownst to the other, Nayar and Abdulla raised their gloved left hands, swiftly whipped it down in an arc, before letting out a cry of relief. Mumbai had overtaken defending champions Rajasthan’s mighty first-innings score to take the lead and pocketed three critical points.By the end of their innings, Mumbai led by 95 runs, courtesy Nayar’s first double-century in the Ranji Trophy and some sturdy partnerships from the lower order involving Abdulla, Dhawal Kulkarni, Nayar and Murtuza Hussain. The match entered the second session and a dead zone. Rajasthan played for an hour, lost their openers before the teams decided to call off the game.Though Nayar deserved to be present to savour the moment, it was the 106-run partnership between the overnight unbeaten pair of Abdulla and Dhawal Kulkarni that had paved the way for Mumbai to overtake Rajasthan. They walked out together immediately after tea on Saturday when severe body cramps had forced Nayar to the physio’s table. Mumbai were 146 runs behind, and Rajasthan sensed an opportunity to wrest control. However, Abdulla and Kulkarni, no strangers to such anxious situations, stayed calm to battle out the next two hours as Mumbai finished 92 runs adrift.The first hour on the final morning held the key to the contest. Pankaj Singh and Deepak Chahar, Rajasthan’s new-ball pair, bowled attacking lines but the Mumbai pair remained steady. Aakash Chopra, leading the side after Hrishikesh Kanitkar’s injury on Saturday, employed the spin pair of Gajendra Singh and Vivek Yadav early. The moved tempted Kulkarni, who stepped out twice against each spinner and was lucky to survive having dragged his back foot in in the nick of time. Otherwise he timed his cuts and pulls well to collect five fours while Abdulla had three boundaries in the morning session.Half an hour before lunch, Kulkarni swished at a straight, seaming delivery from Pankaj, and the thin edge was pouched easily by Rohit Jhalani behind the stumps. Mumbai were just ten runs away from Rajasthan’s score. Abdulla ran towards Kulkarni, patted him on the back and ruffled his hair in appreciation. That was the story of Mumbai this match: through collective efforts – two centuries, three fifties – the hosts bounced back in a match in which they were bystanders on the first two days.To say Mumbai managed to escape easily against an opposition that lacked a killer instinct wouldn’t be wrong. Barring Pankaj, Rajasthan have an inexperienced bowling attack. Chahar overcompensated trying to go for speed and, like any rookie, struggled with his mind, lines and lengths. The inability of the spin pair of Yadav and Gajendra to break through only added to Rajasthan’s woes. In three straight games this domestic season, Rajasthan have conceded 600-plus scores. In the Irani Cup, Shikar Dhawan, Abhinav Mukund and Ajinkya Rahane pummeled the hosts’ bowlers in Jaipur, setting up massive totals in both innings. Last week, Karnataka batted only once to put pressure on the Rajasthan bowlers.Rajasthan, though, are playing in the Elite league for the first time. As their captain Hrishikesh Kanitkar said, they improved with every game last season and to maintain the consistency in the higher grade against quality and seasoned opponents will be difficult.Mumbai have their own issues to deal with. The most significant among them could be the difference of opinions between the selectors and the team management. On the second evening after the day’s play, Mumbai coach Sulakshan Kulkarni laughed at the suggestion from a media person that his team had home advantage playing at Brabourne. According to Kulkarni, the Brabourne pitch was flat and put pressure on his bowlers who toiled on the first two days in vain. Reportedly, his remarks did not sit well with his own selectors, who felt Kulkarni should look at his bowlers who failed miserably in their lengths and lines.”Why was there no third man for most part of the Rajasthan first innings. About 75 runs were leaked there,” said an aggrieved Mumbai selector. “And what about bowling part-time bowlers in Nayar and Kaustubh Pawar after tea on the second day. Why was Ramesh Powar only bowled for a handful of overs (six) on Friday. The field was also not attacking when all the specialist batsmen were out,” were questions that the selector rolled out.Mumbai have plenty to think about in order to avoid any hiccups when they meet a tougher opponent in Karnataka in four days’ time at the same venue.