Siddhesh Lad, Shams Mulani Shine As Mumbai Set Huge Total; Himachal Pradesh Struggle Against Spin

Mumbai tightened its hold on the Group D Ranji Trophy match by reducing Himachal Pradesh to 94/7 at stumps on Day 2. The hosts earlier batted the entire morning session on the second day, with Shams Mulani scoring a half-century (69) to help Mumbai make 446 in their first innings at MCA's Bandra Kurla Complex ground on Sunday. Shardul Thakur-led side leads by 352 runs. 

Mumbai spinners Himanshu Singh (3/26) and Mulani (1/12) ruled the last hour of the evening session after pacers, despite bowling in the second session, made full use of the new ball by reducing Himachal Pradesh to 18/3 at tea in seven overs. Tushar Despande (2/21) sent back opener Ankush Bains and one down batter, Ankit Kalsi, while Thakur (1/21) accounted for Sidhant Purohit. 

Left-hander Pukhraj Mann (34) hit a couple of confident boundaries post tea, and was assisted by an overthrow that crossed the boundary for five runs, and a streaky boundary to get the visitors going. Mann and Ekant Sen survived anxious moments to build on the partnership of 41 runs in 17.2 overs. 

Spinner Mulani was introduced in the 17th over, and then a couple of overs later, Himanshu was introduced from the opposite end. Both put breaks on the scoring, and with the shades coming on, the ground survival became difficult. Mulani trapped Sen (15) in front in his fourth over, and in the next over, Himanshu dismissed Mann leg before wicket to reduce Himachal to 59/5. 

Mann went on the back foot to play a cut shot but misread the ball completely. Mayank Dagar fell similarly to Himnashu as visitors' batters looked clueless against spin in the last hour of play. Aryaman Dhaliwal also became a victim of the lanky spinner Himanshu. 

Earlier, Mumbai were bowled out in the post-lunch session for 446 in 137.2 overs. Overnight unbeaten batter Siddhesh Lad added 27 runs to his score to be dismissed on 127 while Akash Anand made 34. Thakur was dismissed for one as Mumbai were 358/8. Mulani and Desphande put on 75 runs for the ninth wicket to take Mumbai to a respectable score. 

Deshpande made 38 in 66 balls while Mulani struck 69 in 122 balls with the help of nine boundaries. Mulani, who had a knockdown session after the end of the first day with pads on, was the last man dismissed. 

Experienced spinner Dagar took three wickets on Sunday to end with figures of 4/111. Vaibhav Arora and Aprit Gulleria picked two wickets apiece. 

Published on: Sunday, November 09, 2025, 08:20 PM IST