ScorecardFile photo – Dinesh Karthik’s unbeaten 76 helped Tamil Nadu ride a middle-order collapse against Mumbai•Sivaraman Kitta
Left-arm spinner Vishal Dabholkar’s four-wicket haul helped Mumbai take the honours on the opening day of their Group B Ranji Trophy fixture against Tamil Nadu in Mumbai. Dabholkar took 4 for 67 as Tamil Nadu, who were sent in to bat, ended the day at 249 for 6, with Dinesh Karthik unbeaten on 76.With regular captain Abhinav Mukund ruled out before the start due to a stomach bug, Tamil Nadu were driven early on by Baba Aparajith who made 62. Aparajith added 84 for the second wicket with Kaushik Gandhi (31) to steady the innings after M Vijay’s return to first-class cricket, following his recovery from a hamstring injury, yielded all of 8 runs.Dabholkar, who was left out of the game against Punjab, then triggered a middle-order meltdown. He dismissed Gandhi, Aparajith and stand-in captain Baba Indrajith (0) in the space of three runs – the last two batsmen falling off consecutive deliveries – as Tamil Nadu slipped to 107 for 4 in the post-lunch session.Karthik held his own to bring up his first half-century of the season. He found an able ally in J Kousik (39) as the duo stitched together a 59-run stand for the sixth wicket. Their partnership was broken by Dabholkar a few overs before the second new ball was due.Karthik, who hit eight fours and a six in his knock, and Malolan Rangarajan then batted out 13.2 overs without further damage.
