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Mumbai: On a hot sultry day in Nagpur, Mumbai scythed through Rest of India on a decent batting surface, dismissing them for 260 before reaching a breezy 38 for 0 at the end of the opening day of the Irani Cup. It could have been so much worse for Rest of India, though, but Ravindra Jadeja lifted them from 141 for 6 with a mature 77.
The morning session belonged to Ajit Agarkar, who nailed the big fish Virender Sehwag, and Rest of India imploded in the afternoon by playing low-quality cricket. The batsmen appeared rusty but there was no reason to be, for most of them were involved in quite bit of cricket leading up to this game.
They seemed to be sleepwalking to their demise but credit to the Mumbai bowlers for maintaining a disciplined line and length. Whether they deserved such a rich haul, though, is open to debate. Agarkar later said that there wasn't any assistance for the bowlers from the pitch but perhaps it was a track not conducive to on-the-up flashy strokeplay.
Jadeja led Rest of India's fight in the evening by batting sensibly, showing up his team-mates' poor efforts. He kept it simple: when the ball was short he cut or pulled, when it was fuller he drove and two off-drives off Agarkar were his standout shots.
First day, Agarkar put in a large-hearted performance on a slightly slow-paced pitch. Now and then, he dropped his bowling arm a bit more than usual, becoming almost round-armish, and got the ball to skid on to the batsmen. He picked up his first wicket when Sehwag had a lazy waft at a skidding delivery that kept a touch low on off stump.
For Rest of India, M Vijay was subdued and never looked fluent though he tried hard to fight his way out of trouble. Twice he was hit on the pad while moving forward - he was lucky to survive the second lbw shout against Dhawal Kulkarni - and he also was beaten outside off.
When they bowled, Sreesanth was impressive in his short spell, getting the ball to move both ways, but Munaf Patel drifted towards the pads to allow Mumbai a bright start.
Brief score
ROI: 260 (Jadeja 77, Mukund 47, AB Agarkar 3-45)
Mumbai: 38 for 0 (Jaffer 24*, Kukreja 11*)
Status: Mumbai trail by 222 runs (10 wickets remaining)
