A crushing six-wicket haul by paceman Abhishek Nayar helped Mumbai restrict Himachal Pradesh to 250 in their first innings in their Ranji Trophy quarter-final match.

Nayar’s six for 45 in three spells helped Mumbai restrict Himachal to 250 after winning the toss.

Himachal's opening pair of Bhavin Thakkar and Sangram Singh — began cautiously and added 20 runs for the first wicket partnership.

However, Himachal batsman failed to maintain the momentum and in a quick succession of time, they lost three quick wickets to be reduced to 50 for three by the 25th over.

Sangram Singh (13) was the first to go when Nayar had him caught by captain Jaffer. Coming to bat at number 3 position, Vijay Indulkar was also trapped by Nayar. Indulkar scored a duck.

Inform Mumbai bowler Dhawal Kulkarni then struck Thakar for 29 in the 25th over of the match.

Both middle order batsman Paras Dogra and Mukesh Sharma could not add much to the team’s total.

However, the 101-run partnership between Ajay Mannu and Sarandeep Singh for the sixth wicket revived the teams innings and led them to a respectable total. Sarandeep scored the highest 75 for the team while Mannu scored a well made 61.

Batting at number eight position, Vishal Bhatia (21 not out) held one end but did not get support from the tail and Himachal innings folded for a modest 250 in 80.5 overs.

Mumbai medium pacer and Indian discard player Ajit Agarkar failed to impress again as he could not pick even a single wicket in the first innings.

At stumps, Mumbai were 19 runs for no loss, with Vinayak Samant (14) and skipper Wasim Jaffer (0) at the crease.  

Scores in Brief:

Himachal Pradesh (1st innings): 250 all out, Sarandeep 75, Mannu 61, AM Nayar 6/46, DS Kulkarni 2/45.

Mumbai (1st innings): 19 for no loss, Samant 14 n. o., Jaffer 0 n.o.