Mighty Mumbai stumble at hands of J&K

A Spirited Jammu amp Kashmir gave Ranji Trophy defending champions Mumbai a repeat dose of their 201415 heroics to outclass Ajinkya Rahanersquos Mumbai team by five wickets in an Elite Group lsquoArsquo Ranji match at the MCABKC ground on SaturdayA decade ago they had shocked a Suryakumar Yadavled Mumbai side at the Wankhede Stadium clinching a historic fourwicket win by chasing 237JampK chase 205run targetOn Saturday they chased glory again achieving their 205run target without much of a sweatShubham Khajuria left and Vivrant Sharma during their 75run standThe starstudded Mumbai playing XI comprised five Test players mdash Indiarsquos Test and ODI captain Rohit Sharma his Test opening partner Yashasvi Jaiswal captain Rahane toporder batsman Shreyas Iyer and allrounder Shardul ThakurHowever except second innings centurion Thakur 51 119 and 239 no other India player lived up to their reputationThe only bowler who kept Mumbairsquos hopes alive in front of 200plus spectators at the BKC ground on Saturday afternoon was promising leftarm spinner Shams Mulani who was dropped for the 50over Vijay Hazare Trophy tournament recently Mulani fought hard bowling 15 overs in two spells and claimed 454 Pacer Mohit Avasthi who claimed 552 in the first innings got 133 in the second essayJampK opener Shubham Khajuria once again emerged as the top scorer 53 and 45 for the visitors just like he did during the 201415 triumph when he scored 107 and 78 Khajuria 29 batted sensibly and scored his first attacking shot after 40 minutes when he dispatched Avasthi for a superb ondrive and later finished the over with a splendid straight driveAvasthi gave Mumbai their first break in the 11th over when he had opener Yawer Hassan 24 4x4 caught behind by Hardik TamoreMulani breaks crucial standWhen Khajuria and onedrop Vivrant Sharma 38 5x4 went to lunch unbeaten on 28 and 27 respectively JampK needed 120 to win with nine wickets intact Khajuria looked confident during his two hourplus stay at the crease However Mulani upset his furniture as the batsman stepped out Mulani sent back Vivrant in his next over caught by Avasthi who was placed perfectly just near the longon fenceAbdul Samadrsquos 20ball 24 with five hits to the fence was valuable while Abid Mushtaq 32ball 32 not out 3x4 2x6 wicketkeeperbatter Kanhaiya Wadhawan 19 not out ensured JampK got homePacer Yudhvir Singh 431 and 364 who dismissed Rohit in the second innings and scored 20 at No 9 in the first innings claimed the Player of the Match award Earlier in the day the JampK bowlers needed just seven overs to break the hostsrsquo eighth wicket 184run partnership between Shardul Thakur and KotianJampK now lead the Group lsquoArsquo table with 29 points in six games Mumbai who will be playing their last league game against Meghalaya at home starting Thursday have 22 pointsBrief scoresMumbai 120 amp 290 S Thakur 119 T Kotian 62 A Nabi 480 Y Singh 364 U Mir 279 lost to JampK 206 amp 2075 S Khajuria 45 V Sharma 38 A Mushtaq 32 S Mulani 454 by 5 wkts