Ranji Trophy: Derailed!

Railways captain Karn Sharma (not in pic) has his opposite number Suryakumar Yadav clean bowled on Day Three of the Group B Ranji Trophy match against Mumbai at the Wankhede Stadium yesterday. Pics/Prakash Parsekar

Unheralded Railways humbled a below-par Mumbai by 10 wickets well inside three days in the Ranji Trophy league game at the Wankhede Stadium on Friday, to register their first outright victory over the 41-time champions in the tournament.

Railways wrapped up the game in the post-lunch session itself after the hosts collapsed for 198 in the second innings in 63 overs, marginally better than their pathetic first innings tally of 114, but still not enough after having conceded a lead of 152 runs to the visitors on Thursday.

Himanshu Sangwan (left) and Karn Sharma

The entire second innings of the home team lasted five hours starting yesterday, just over double the time their first innings had lasted when they were bowled out inside the first session on the opening day. In fact 42 overs had been lost over the first two days because of bad light and solar eclipse.

If it was medium pacer Tippeswamy Pradeep's six-wicket haul that brought Mumbai to their knees in the first essay, it was another rookie pacer - Himanshu Sangwan, 24, who claimed 5-60 in the home team's second innings to improve upon his 4-71 against UP at Meerut.

Pradeep grabbed two while their most experienced pacer Amit Mishra got one while captain Karn Sharma, who had notched a superb century on Friday to play a stellar role with the bat and pulled his team from the rut at 43 for 5, brought himself on late in the innings to grab two vital wickets in just seven overs.

The leg-spinner sent back his counter-attacking opposite number Suryakumar Yadav for 65, who was unbeaten on Thursday along with Ajinkya Rahane, and then packed off Shardul Thakur for 21 just on the stroke of lunch to effectively seal Mumbai's fate.

Suryakumar, unbeaten on 15 in a team score of 64 for three last evening, played all over a tossed-up delivery and was castled while Thakur edged to the slip fielder.

Rahane, the Indian Test vice-captain, had earlier disappointed again, poking at a ball that moved away from shade in the day's second over and edging to the rival 'keeper off the Delhi-born Sangwan early on for a 54-ball eight after an unconvincing stay of 86 minutes, resuming at three off 45 balls. He was caught in the slips for five in the first essay.

A brief recovery was staged by Suryakumar in the company of Tare (14). The duo added 64 runs for the fifth wicket, but three wickets fell in a heap.

Akash Parkar hit some lusty blows to make an unconquered 35 with five fours but ran out of partners. The small target was reached without losing a wicket by the Railways to earn the bonus point too.

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