Mumbai (Maharashtra): Mumbai pacers led by Tushar Deshpande wreaked havoc on a greenish pitch as they bowled out Tamil Nadu for a meagre 146 on the opening day of the Ranji Trophy semi-final here on Saturday.
Tamil Nadu skipper R Sai Kishore's decision to opt to bat backfired as the Mumbai pace trio of Shardul Thakur (2 for 48), Mohit Awasthi (1 for 23) and Tushar Deshpande (3 for 24 ) ran through the top and middle order. Tamil Nadu was reduced to 42 for 5 at one stage.
Then all-rounders Vijay Shankar (44) and Washington Sundar (43) tried to steady the ship but managed only 48 runs for the sixth wicket.
It was Shardul, who provided Mumbai the first breakthrough, dismissing rival opener B Sai Sudarshan on duck. Tamil Nadu was 0 for 1. It soon became 10 for 2 as Mohit Awasthi struck after Narayan Jagdeesan (4) gave a sitter to Musheer Khan at forward short leg.
Then it was the Tushar Deshpande show at the Mumbai Cricket Association Bandra Kurla Complex ground here. The right-handed pacer Tushar first removed Pradosh Paul (8) after he latched on to a return catch and Tamil Nadu was reeling at 12 for 3.
There was no stopping Tushar as he cleaned up rival skipper R Sai Kishore (1), who walked back to the dressing room without troubling much the scorers. Tamil Nadu lost their fourth wicket for just 17. Tushar's third victim of the morning was Baba Indrajith (11), whose top edge was caught by Tanush Kotian at short mid-wicket and Tamil Nadu lost half their side for 42.
However, Tamil Nadu managed to cross their lowest total (61) in the Ranji Trophy, which also came against Mumbai (then Bombay) in the 1972-73 Ranji final. The first session belonged to Mumbai as Tamil Nadu went to lunch at 68 for 5.
When it looked like Vijay Shankar and Washington were bringing Tamil Nadu back into the game, Shardul removed Vijay Shankar, who was caught by Shams Mulani as TN lost their sixth wicket on 90. Shankar in his 109-ball knock hit 8 boundaries.
Washington, who slammed five boundaries in his 138-ball knock, was the lone warrior for Tamil Nadu as he was devoid of partners. M Mohammed (17)), S Ajith Ram (15) and Sandeep Warrior (0) made a beeline to the pavilion as the visitors were teetering at 146 for 9.
Washington was the last man to be dismissed after he was trapped in front of the wickets by Tanush Kotian (2 for 10) as the Tamil Nadu innings folded up in just 64.1 overs. Musheer Khan (2 for 18) too played his role to perfection, while Shams Mulani (0-22) was the only Mumbai bowler, who remained wicketless.
In reply, Mumbai ended the day at 45 for 2, having lost both the openers Prithvi Shaw (5) and Bhupen Lalwani (15) cheaply.
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