Ranji Trophy: Saurabh Tiwary hits double ton as Jharkhand dominate Mumbai

Mumbai: Jharkhand batsman Saurabh Tiwary compiled his maiden double ton, a swashbuckling 238, before the team`s bowlers stifled Mumbai`s batsmen only to loosen the grip on a rollercoaster second day two of their Group A Ranji Trophy match here on Saturday.

In reply to the visitors` first innings total of 351, Mumbai were pushed firmly on the back foot by the pace of Varun Aaron before Hiken Shah (46 batting) and Suryakumar Yadav (49 batting) came to their side`s rescue with an unbroken 96-run stand for the sixth wicket. The duo, who came together when the 40-time champions were tottering at 114 for five before tea, batted through the last session to guide Mumbai to 210 for 5, still 141 runs behind the visitors` score. Aaron, in his seven-over first spell, used his extra pace to breach the defence of opener Sushant Marathe off the second ball and then struck an even bigger blow by dismissing in-form batsman Wasim Jaffer (1) to leave Mumbai gasping at 30 for 2. Opener Aditya Tare made a breezy 67 off 120 balls before getting out while Siddesh Lad (16) and skipper Abhishek Nayar (19) could not convert their starts into bigger things. It was then left to Shah and Yadav to stem the rot. In the morning, Tiwary, resuming at a career-high 175 in a team total of 262 for 8, continued his assault on the hapless Mumbai bowling attack by carting them for four more sixes and nine additional fours before being dismissed while going for another big hit off left arm spinner Vishal Dabholkar. Tiwary added 63 runs today, 60 coming off sixes and fours, in just 81 balls before he got out at 334. He struck Akbar Khan for 22 runs in the opening over with a six and four fours. Shiv Shankar Rao remained not out on 23 after guiding the eastern India side past the 350 mark. For Mumbai, Javed Khan and Dabholkar shared eight wickets equally. Brief scores: Jharkhand 351 (Saurabh Tiwary 238; J Khan 4 for 79, V Dabholkar 4 for 81). Mumbai 210 for 5 (A Tare 67, H Shah batting 46, S Yadav batting 49; V Aaron 2 for 28, S Nadeem 2 for 64).