Skipper Shardul ''Lords'' over Chattisgarh

Jaipur, Dec 29 (PTI) Skipper Shardul Thakur ticked all the boxes, right from winning the toss to blowing the Chattisgarh top order with a match winning four-wicket burst, as Mumbai cruised to nine wicket victory to complete a group stage hat trick in the Vijay Hazare Trophy here on Monday.

At the Jaipuria Vidyalaya ground, Shardul won the toss and used the early morning nip to good effect to reduce Chattisgarh to 10 for 4 inside first five overs.

Chattisgarh never recovered from the blow and were skittled out for 142 in 38.1 overs.

While Shardul wreaked havoc in first half an hour, it was left-arm spinner Shams Mulani (5/31) who demolished the latter half of the Chattisgarh batting by bowling quick and stump-to-stump line. The last six wickets tumbled for 27 runs.

The chase was a cakewalk as Angkrish Raghuvanshi (68 no off 66 balls) along with veteran Siddhesh Lad (48 no off 42 balls) added 102 runs for the unbroken second wicket to wrap it off in just 24 overs.

Mumbai with 12 points consolidated their position on top of group C.

The day belonged to skipper Shardul (4/13 in 5 overs). He got into the act with the very second ball with right handed opener Ayush Tiwary edging one to Sarfaraz Khan in the slips.

Off the last ball of the opening over, one-drop Mayank Verma (3) was clean bowled. In his next two overs, Sarfaraz again got into the act with two regulation slip takes off away going deliveries.

Skipper Amandeep Khare (63) and all rounder Ajay Mandal (46) did show stomach for a fight with a 105-run fifth wicket stand.

However once Mandal was snuffed out by Mulani, the remaining wickets fell in a jiffy.

Chasing the total, Raghuvanshi, the young KKR star, who batted with a bandage patch on side of his neck, looked in good touch hitting six fours and two sixes and got a lot of guidance from senior pro Lad, who also seemed to be in good nick.

"All thanks to our physio Mr Suresh who helped me a lot, had a bad fall but I feel much better now," Raghuvanshi told reporters after the end of the game referring to his hospitalization after an on field injury in last game versus Uttarakhand.

On the match front, he felt that while his skipper exploited early help from the surface, it became a "batting paradise" later on.

The youngster, who is a protege of KKR head coach Abhishek Nayar, also spoke about his experience of batting for a considerable time with a stalwart like Rohit Sharma.

"Out of 141 run stand (earlier game), I got 40. Just taking singles and giving him (Rohit) strike and watching him from other end, it felt like a movie," Raghuvanshi's broad grin said it all.

On personal front, he is trying to upskill himself adding wicketkeeping to his repertoire with growing trend of utility players getting preference.

"I am really enjoying keeping. It is challenging but it makes you feel thag you are always in the game," the U19 World Cup winner said.

So are we looking at KKR's new wicketkeeper during the 2026 season? "That you will find out in due time," he smiled while signing off.

Brief Scores: Chattisgarh 142 in 38.1 overs (Amandeep Khare 63, Shardul Thakur 4/13, Shams Mulani 5/31).

Mumbai 144/1 in 24 overs (Angkrish Raghuvanshi 66 not out, Siddhesh Lad 48 not out). PTI KHS ATK