CK Nayudu Trophy Final: Mumbai’s chances hinge on well-set Bhupen Lalwani

Bhupen Lalwani

Mumbai U-25 have to play out of their skin to beat their Gujarat counterparts for CK Nayudu Trophy honours in Valsad today. Mumbai's second innings stood at 118-6 at stumps on Day Three, while chasing 202 for victory.

Resuming at their overnight score of 186-6, Gujarat were bowled out for 309 in their second essay. It is now left to Mumbai's pair of Bhupen Lalwani (70 not out) and wicketkeeper-batsman Vaibhav Kalamkar (0) to tackle the Gujarat bowling as well as the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Stadium pitch. Lalwani, 23, who represented Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy during the 2019-20 season, is optimistic of getting the desired result despite the odds against Mumbai.

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"Batting in the fourth innings on such a dusty pitch is a challenging task. There are plenty of rough spots which are helping the spinners. None of our batsmen got out playing a bad shot. On some occasions, the ball kept low and at times, there was bounce. "But a win is not impossible. If we build some partnerships, we can make it count. Vaibhav is batting well, Khizar Dafedar too played some good knocks in earlier games. Yes, it is difficult and challenging, but we will give it our best," said Lalwani.

For Gujarat, left-arm spinner Vishal Jayaswal, the season's highest wicket-taker (62) claimed 3-40. Apart from Lalwani, who hit six fours and a six during his 144-ball stay at the wicket, opener Angkrish Raghuvanshi (10) and No.5 Vedant Murkar (12), were the only two batsmen, who got to double digits.