In their previous game against Tamil Nadu at Chepauk, Railways were left scarred after losing 15 of the 20 wickets to the slow bowlers.
On Tuesday against Mumbai, the spin battle began late. They first had to negotiate Mumbai’s pace trio of Tushar Deshpande, Mohit Awasthi and Suryansh Shedge. Vivek Singh, Sahab Singh and Eshaan Goyal did more than that, taking the attack to Mumbai and unsettling them for the first time this season.
But when Tanush Kotian was introduced in the 24th over, the resistance began to crack. Kotian dismissed Sahab two overs later, and Shams Mulani removed Goyal in the following over to leave Railways 82/2. It took Mohammad Saif and captain Bhargav Merai, defending stoutly, to see Railways to 116/2 at the end of Day 2, 280 runs behind.
Vivek and Sahab put the Mumbai bowlers on the back foot, mixing caution with aggression. The left-hander Vivek, who made 112 and 58 in the season opener against Uttarakhand at this venue, drove through the covers whenever the Mumbai bowlers overpitched, swept Mulani when the ball was there to be hit and left deliveries that did not need a shot. At the other end, Sahab cut anything short and showed discipline around off stump.
Mumbai were under pressure. Something had to give. It did in the 17th over, though not in the form of a wicket.
Awasthi had seen enough of his full deliveries either disappear for four or be left alone, and decided to go short. His last ball was dug in and struck Vivek on the back, leaving the batsman wincing in pain. As he walked off, retired hurt on 38, Mumbai sensed an opening.
Kotian soon removed Sahab, caught behind, before Mulani induced a false chip from Goyal that ballooned to cover and sent him back. Saif and Merai ensured there was no further damage.
Earlier, Mulani’s fluent 71 helped Mumbai build on their overnight score and reach 396 all out in their first innings. Mulani and Akash Anand were largely untroubled through most of the opening session on a benign Brabourne Stadium pitch.
Anand reached his fifty with back-to-back boundaries, an on drive followed by an off drive, against Sahab, but fell a few overs later. Sangwan got one to angle into him and trapped him lbw for 52, ending an 82-run partnership.
Anand’s dismissal did little to affect Mulani, who brought up his half-century in 114 balls with a cover drive for four off Sangwan. He and Kotian kept the scoreboard moving until, at the stroke of lunch, left-arm spinner Raj Choudhury got one to turn enough to take Kotian’s outside edge. Vivek took the catch at first slip.
Choudhury returned after lunch to dismiss Deshpande for five, but Mulani found an ally in Awasthi. The pair added 29 for the last wicket before Choudhury claimed his third wicket, having Awasthi caught and bowled to bring Mumbai’s innings to an end.
Brief scores: Mumbai 396 all out in 123.3 overs (Angkrish Raghuvanshi 78, Shams Mulani 71 not out, Sarfaraz Khan 55; Himanshu Sangwan 4/88, Raj Choudhury 3/81) lead Railways 116/2 in 35 overs (Vivek Singh 38 retired hurt, Sahab Singh 33) by 280 runs.