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Mumbai: Skipper Wasim Jaffer led from the front with a century, while middle-order batsman Rohit hit a quickfire 93 as hosts Mumbai amassed 340 for the loss of seven wickets on the first day of their Group A Elite division match against Saurashtra on Monday.
Coming together at the fall of opener Sushant Marathe's wicket with the score at 105, Jaffer and Sharma added 147 runs for the third wicket in just 25.2 overs as the hosts looked to be on their way to a huge total.
However, all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja chipped in with three crucial wickets to trigger a lower middle-order collapse, as Saurashtra took five wickets for just 83 runs to claw their way back into the match.
Earlier, put into bat, Mumbai, without the the services of Ajinkya Rahane who failed to recover fully from an injury, had a sedate start as makeshift opener Omkar Gurav (16), and Sushant Marathe (45) adding 37 runs for the first wicket before the former was caught behind off right-arm pacer Jayesh Odedara.
Jaffer and Marathe shared a 68-run partnership for the second wicket, before Marathe met the same fate as Gurav.
It was then that Jaffer 138 (283m, 172b, 4x19, 6x1) and Sharma 93 (103m, 86b 4x14, 6x2) joined hands and took the team's total past 250 in a dominating fashion.
Jadeja had other ideas as he prevented Sharma from completing a well deserved ton as he had him caught by debutant Jaidev Unadkat.
Abhishek Nayar (24) and Prashant Naik (7) could not do much, but the big blow for the hosts came when a well-set Jaffer was caught behind late in the day off Rakesh Dhruv. Romesh Powar (1) too was removed by Jadeja, as Ajit Agarkar (10 not out) and Iqbal Abdullah (1 not out) held fort when stumps were drawn for the day.
For Saurashtra, Jadeja ended the day with figures off 3-100, while Odedara (2-71) and Dhruv (2-51) shared two wickets apiece.
Brief scores
Mumbai 340 for 7 (Jaffer 138, Sharma 93, Jadeja 3-100, Odedara 2-71, Dhruv 2-51).
