NAGPUR, March 20: Minnows Assam learnt a harsh lesson which Subhrajit Saikia and his men would like to forget. Mumbai mowed the East Zone team and moved a step closer towards defending their Wills Trophy title when they won by a thumping 64-run margin in their quarter-final clash here at the Vidarbha Cricket Association grounds today.Along expected lines, Mumbai amassed a mammoth 305 against a weak Assam attack. Ajit Agarkar, after his excellent showing in Pakistan representing India `A', then gave further indication of his prodigious talent and caught selectors' attention with a brilliant unbeaten 46 and three vital wickets.Defending the huge total was not a bother for Mumbai. And the way Agarkar bowled was very impressive. He frustrated the Assam batsmen in his first spell and gave Mumbai the much-needed initial breakthrough.
Despite Sangram Sawant and Vinayak Samant's knocks of 42 and 51 respectively, Assam could manage to score 241 for eight wickets. Samant, however, was also a part of 79-run eighthwicket stand with Sukhwinder Singh (28).
Earlier, the Mumbai batsmen thrilled a small crowd with an exhilarating display of strokeplay. After initial hiccups, Vinod Kambli (49), Amol Muzumdar (56) and Jatin Paranjpe (43) batted comfortably. But, after their departure, Ajit Agarkar and Sameer Dighe gave a batting treat. The duo added 69 runs for the sixth wicket in only 41 deliveries. Dighe's innings of 42 include one four and three sixes facing 27 balls, while Agarkar had hit two sixes and three boundaries in his 46.
SCOREBOARD
Mumbai: Amit Pagnis c Samant b Hussain 29, Rajesh Sutar c Das b Hussain 5, Vinod Kambli st Samant b Sukhwinder 49, Amol Muzumdar c&b Rajesh Bora 56, Jatin Paranjpe run out 43, Ajit Agarkar not out 46, Sameer Dighe c Saikia b Gyanesh Bora 42, Sairaj Bahutule c Saikia b Hussain 7, Abey Kuruvilla run out 0.
Extras: (24w, 2nb, 2lb) 28;
Total: (for 8 wkts in 50 overs) 305.
Fall of wickets: 1-21, 2-41, 3-115, 4-195, 5-225, 6-294, 7-304,8-305.
BOWLING: Gyanesh Bora 4-0-34-1, Ijaz Hussain 8-1-53-3, Rajinder Singh 10-0-61-0, Sukhwinder Singh 9-0-64-1, Rajesh Bora 10-1-37-1, Sangram Sawant 9-0-54-0.
Assam: Subhrajit Saikia lbw Kuruvilla 7, P Das c Bahutule b Agarkar 26, Rajinder Singh b Agarkar 4, Nishant Bordoloi c Dighe b Agarkar 6, Sangram Sawant st Dighe b Bahutule 42, Rajesh Bora c Dighe b N Kulkarni 5, N Das c Dighe b Bahutule 39, Sukhwinder Singh run out 28, Vinayak Samant not out 51, Ijaz Hussain not out 7; Extras: (13nb, 10w, 3lb) 26; Total (for 8 wkts in 50 overs) 241.
Fall of wickets: 1-14, 2-37, 3-54, 4-70, 5-81, 6-149, 7-150, 8-229.Bowling: Kuruvilla 6-0-36-1, Mhambrey 6-0-19-0, Agarkar 8-1-24-3, N Kulkarni 10-1-38-1, Bahutule 10-0-47-2, Sutar 5-0-36-0, Kambli 3-0-21-0, Muzumdar 2-0-17-0.
Result: Mumbai won by 64 runs.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
