Mumbai’s bowlers took just 19 balls to claim the four remaining Bihar’s wickets to register an innings and 51-run win in their Ranji Trophy Elite Group ‘B’ game in Patna on Monday. The 41-time champions thus started their campaign on a joyous note. The hosts were trailing by 60 runs when they resumed at their overnight score of 91-6 at the Moin-ul-Haq Stadium.

Pacer Mohit Avasthi dismissed Bipin Saurabh (30) on the second ball and  left-arm pacer Royston Dias (3-35) completed the winning formalities by securing his maiden hat-trick. Mumbai stand-in skipper Shams Mulani reckoned it was a big and important win. “These seven points are very important as we witnessed last season when that [the gap of] three points did the damage for us. There will be some games which don’t go your way and that extra point is vital,” Mulani told mid-day from Patna.