Had Ajinkya Rahane not injured his hamstring final month throughout the IPL, Suved Parkar could have been serving drinks. The debutant made probably the most of his alternative to present Rahane a becoming birthday reward on Monday.
More importantly, Parkar’s (104 n.o., 218b, 8×4, 2×6) unbeaten hundred and his two century stands with Armaan Jaffer and Sarfaraz Khan put Mumbai in agency management on the opening day of the Ranji Trophy quarterfinal.
Riding on the trio’s heroics, Mumbai recovered from 64 for 2 to finish the day at 304 for 3. Despite the match beginning 75 minutes delayed, the truth that mild held good until late meant solely 4 overs have been misplaced.
When Parkar walked in with simply seven minutes remaining for the lunch break, Deepak Dhapola — Uttarakhand’s one-man military with the tempo — had accounted for each the openers. He survived the awkward interval together with Armaan and the duo flourished after the preliminary half hour into the afternoon session.
Armaan was stylish together with his strokeplay — his whip via midwicket off one which was pitched outdoors off paying homage to his uncle Wasim. Parkar took his time and tried rotating the strike. Only when spin was launched within the twenty fifth over did he swap gears.
Both his sixes — into the sightscreen off Mayank Mishra’s left-arm spin adopted by one over long-on off leggie Dikshanshu Negi — have been easy. Soon after the partnership had touched the three-figure mark, Dhapola returned and compelled Armaan to poke at one within the channel.
Swapnil Singh, who had didn’t latch on to a return catch by Parkar when he was on 18, lunged to take a splendid catch within the slips to finish Armaan’s knock.
In walked Sarfaraz and the duo noticed off the remaining session with none bother, with Parkar nudging Akash Madhwal for a single within the final over to boost his fifty.
Going on the offensive
The final session noticed Sarfaraz and Parkar make merry towards a tiring bowling unit. While Sarfaraz’s six over covers that sailed over the grass mound was the shot of the day, Parkar confirmed his class by rotating the strike with none fuss.
Once he entered the 90s, a nudge via the cordon adopted by a flick via midwicket off Madhwal meant Parkar joined an elite checklist of Mumbai cricketers to have notched up 100 on debut.
The scores:
MUMBAI — 1st innings: Prithvi Shaw b Bhapola 21, Yashasvi Jaiswal c Swapnil b Dhapola 35, Armaan Jaffer c Swapnil b Dhapola 60, Suved Parkar (batting) 104, Sarfaraz Khan (batting) 69; Extras (b-4, lb-6, nb-4, w-1): 15; Total (for 3 wkts. in 86 overs): 304.
Fall of wickets: 1-36, 2-64, 3-176.
Uttarakhand bowling: Dhapola 18-3-53-3, Madhwal 15-1-74-0, Tiwari 19-6-43-0, Swapnil 12-2-35-0, Mishra 17-0-47-0, Negi 3-0-28-0, Bista 2-0-14-0.
Toss: Mumbai.
Source: www.thehindu.com
