Siddhesh Lad was the man of the day starring with a daddy hundred as Mumbai piled a mountain of runs on the second day against Puducherry in their Ranji Trophy Elite Group D match at the Wankhede Stadium, here on Monday.
Lad’s majestic knock of 170 was decked with 19 fours and four sixes as he milked the hapless Puducherry bowlers to all corners of the Wankhede.
He was finally out to Sabhay Chadha caught by Anand Singh Bais at third man after a whirlwind innings.
The fourth-wicket partnership of 160 between Lad and Sarfaraz laid the platform for the massive 600 plus score that Mumbai eventually put up: 630/5 decl in 147 overs.
Then came another 110-run partnership between a well set Lad and Akash Anand that saw the latter notch up a brilliant hundred in 113 balls.
This is Akash’s first hundred of the current Ranji season and his best knock in the competition. He carted the Puducherry bowlers around the park for eight boundaries in a fluent innings at a strike rate of 87.70 for his 107.
Then came the third 100-plus run partnership which was unconquered between Akash and skipper Shardul Thakur that frustrated the Puducherry bowlers.
The 123-run unbeaten partnership saw Thakur score a cracking half-century with 56 runs off 32 balls comprising three boundaries and four sixes at a strike rate of 175.
After scoring 56, Thakur voluntarily retired hurt to give himself some time to relax before coming onto bowl after the impending declaration.
Shams Mulani chipped in with 13 runs as well as Mumbai declared at 630/5 in 147 overs.
It was the Thakur show thereafter as he rattled Puducherry with two back-to-back wickets off the first three balls of the match.
The Palghar man bowled Neyan Kangayan off the first ball and then trapped Paras Ratnaparkhe on the third ball of the game.
Things went from bad to worse as far as Puducherry were concerned with Thakur getting Anand Singh Bais caught by Akash Anand for 5.
The visitors slipped to 8/3 and would have been 13/4 if it wasn’t for a no-ball from Mohit Avasthi bowling to MR Kale.
However, it was 26/4 in 9.2 overs as Ajay Rohera was scalped by Tushar Deshpande caught by Ayush Mhatre.
Puducherry ended their day at 43/4 in 12 overs to wrap up a miserable day for them with ball and bat.
Earlier, Siddhesh Lad and Sarfaraz Khan consolidated Mumbai’s position in the first session on the second day.
Sarfaraz brought up a well-deserved half-century that would have surely renewed his confidence after the poor run of scores.
He was eventually out for 67 with the partnership between him and Lad culminating at 160 runs for the fourth wicket.
Sarfaraz’s knock had six fours and a six and came off 113 balls. The partnership had set the tone for the day
Mumbai brought up their 450 in 120.2 overs with Lad on 146 in 250 balls, Akash Anand on 27 in 38 balls and the 50-run partnership in 85 balls
Lad notched up his 150 with a straight six off Aman Khan in the 151st over and was eventually out for 170 in 285 balls.
