MUMBAI, November 18: There were quite a few surprises in store at the Brabourne Stadium today. First, Mumbai skipper Sanjay Manjrekar came up with a puzzling decision of not enforcing a follow-on. But that was nothing when compared to the spineless batting display dished out by Maharashtra in the last session of the penultimate day of the four-day Ranji Trophy match.Faced with a daunting task of scoring 434 runs in 122 overs for victory, the visitors crashed to 92 for nine before a delayed draw of stumps.

The lack of application by the Maharashtra batsmen, which began with the overs-limited game, has showed no respite and it touched a new low this evening. Mumbai youngsters, 20-year-old medium-pacer Ajit Agarkar (4-27) and 19-year-old left-arm spinner Rajesh Pawar (3-15), capitalised on the faulty faculties of the rival batsmen to share the spoils.

Earlier in the day, Manjrekar refused to enforce the follow-on despite bowling out Maharashtra's first innings in the first hour at 201, a deficit of 225 runs. He justified the decision, saying: ``I wanted to give the bowlers a break, so that they are fresh when they come on to bowl in the second innings. The time element too was at our disposals and it wasn't a bad idea to get some batting practice for the second time.''

Manjrekar himself practiced what he preached with a 76-ball 78 (114m, 8x4, 1x6) in the company of southpaw Jatin Paranjpe (81: 108b, 139m 9x4). The duo struck a 144-run alliance in just 23.2 overs, compounding the problems of the Maharashtra attack depleted by medium-pacer Milind Kulkarni's absence owing to a side strain. In the event, Mumbai raised 208 runs in 194 minutes when Manjrekar declared the innings at tea.

The 32-year-old Manjrekar shook off the grafter's tag and played the lead role in the run charge. Not content with eight elegantly driven boundaries, he even pulled leg-spinner Mandar for a six over mid-wicket.

Paranjpe, who came in after the early loss of openers Amit Pagnis (27) and Amol Muzumdar (5), flourished in the company of his skipper. But his innings was marred by two reprieves -- on 47 and 71. While wicket-keeper Sanjay Kondhalkar was guilty of failing to whip the bails off in the first instance as the batsman stepped out of the crease against left-arm spinner Indrajeet Kamthekar, Iqbal Siddiqui dropped a sitter off medium-pacer Sameer Inamdar to given the second lease of life for Paranjpe. Inamdar, finally trapped him leg before after the batsmen played back.

Victory is just a formality for the defending champions tomorrow which will swell their points tally to a whopping 16 from two matches.

SCOREBOARD

Mumbai (1st innings): 426

Maharashtra (1st innings; overnight 163-8): Surendra Bhave c Sutar b Saxena 1, Niranjan Godbole b Mhambrey 8, Abhijit Kale c S Kulkarni b Agarkar 39, Shantanu Sugwekar c Manjrekar b Pawar 70, Nikhil Dixit c Sutar b Agarkar 0, Indrajeet Kamtekar c S Kulkarni b Saxena 2, Sanjay Kondhalkar c Agarkar b Saxena 29, Mandar Sane not out 10, Sameer Inamdar b Saxena 0, Iqbal Siddiqui c Pagnis b Pawar 5, Milind Kulkarni run out 20. Extras: (b1, lb1, nb15) 17. Total (all out in 58.4 overs; 277 mins) 201

Fall of wickets: 1-5, 2-30, 3-83, 4-83, 5-96, 6-162, 7-162, 8-163, 9-173

Bowling: Mhambrey 14-3-36-1, Saxena 14-1-61-4, Agarkar 14-1-63-2, Pawar 16.4-7-39-2

Mumbai (2nd innings): Amit Pagnis b Kamtekar 27, Amol Muzumdar lbw Siddiqui 5, Jatin Paranjpe lbw Inamdar 81, Sanjay Manjrekar not out 78, Vinod Kambli not out 4; Extras (b4, lb4, w1, nb4) 13. Total (for 3 wkts declared in 43 overs; 194 minutes) 208

Fall of wickets: 1-20, 2-48, 3-192

Bowling: Siddiqui 11-3-34-1, Inamdar 9-0-50-1 (4nb, 1w), Sugwekar 7-0-26-0, Kamtekar 7-0-33-1, Sane 9-0-57-0

Maharashtra (2nd innings): Surendra Bhave b Agarkar 7, Niranjan Godbole c Agarkar b Mhambrey 2, Abhijit Kale st S Kulkarni b Pawar 18, Nikhil Dixit b Agarkar 2, Shantanu Sugwekar c Manjrekar b Agarkar 9, Indrajeet Kamtekar b Mhambrey 18, Sanjay Kondhalkar c S Kulkarni b Pawar 0, Mandar Sane c Manjrekar b Pawar 13, Sameer Inamdar c S Kulkarni b Agarkar 16, Iqbal Siddiqui batting 1, Milind Kulkarni batting 5; Extras: (1nb) 1. Total (for nine wickets, in 32 overs) 92

Fall of wickets: 1-10, 2-10, 3-14, 4-28, 5-49, 6-57, 7-57, 8-86, 9-86, Bowling: Mhambrey 11-1-38-2 (1nb), Saxena 5-2-12-0, Agarkar 9-1-27-4, Pawar 7-2-15-3.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.