Mumbai Secures Knockout Berth with Draw Against Uttar Pradesh
Mumbai has officially qualified for the knockout stage of the Vijay Merchant Trophy Under-16 championship. They achieved this milestone after playing out a draw against Uttar Pradesh at the Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium in Kanpur on Wednesday.
Final Day Declarations and Target
On the fourth and final day of the match, Mumbai declared their second innings at 260 for 6. This declaration set a massive target of 759 runs for Uttar Pradesh. UP had less than five hours of play to chase this daunting total.
In their second innings, Uttar Pradesh managed to reach 164 for 5. The umpires called off the match at this point. UP earned one point from the draw. Mumbai secured three points based on their first-innings lead.
Mumbai's Strategic Batting Decision
Mumbai held a first-innings lead of more than 400 runs. Despite this advantage, they chose to bat again instead of enforcing the follow-on. This decision aimed to force an outright result in the match.
Resuming from an overnight score of 183 for 4, Mumbai added 77 runs before declaring. Overnight batters Arjun Gadoya and Harsh Shailesh Kadam built a crucial 66-run partnership for the fifth wicket. They faced 89 balls together, making it the highest stand of the innings.
Both Gadoya and Kadam fell to the bowling of Rudra Sharma. At the time of declaration, Karthik Kumar remained unbeaten on 24. Vedant Gore was not out on 14.
Uttar Pradesh's Second Innings Struggle
UP's second innings failed to gain momentum early on. Openers Aalok Kumar and Rudra Veer were dismissed cheaply, leaving the score at 11. The team struggled to build substantial partnerships under pressure.
Hitesh Kumar and Kamran Ali provided some resistance. They shared the highest partnership for UP, adding 54 runs for the fifth wicket. Hitesh top-scored with a brisk 76 off just 44 balls. His innings included 14 fours and two sixes. Kamran contributed 31 off 36 deliveries.
Siddhant emerged as the most successful bowler for Mumbai. He picked up two wickets during UP's second innings.
Brief Scores Summary
Mumbai 1st innings: 633 for 8 declared
Mumbai 2nd innings: 260 for 6 declared (Aayush Shete 96, Risbhabh S 24, Harsh Shailesh Kadam 45, Arjun Gadoya 41; Rudra Sharma 2/49, Anay Awasthi 3/34)
UP 1st innings: 135
UP 2nd innings: 164 for 5 (Hitesh Kumar 76, Kamran Ali 31, Arush Gupta 20; Siddhant 2/17)
