New Delhi: Title favourites Mumbai started off their Ranji Trophy campaign in style defeating Railways by 10 wickets in their opening Elite Group match at Karnail Singh Stadium.
A 10-wicket victory ensured a bonus point for the 39-time champions as they got six points from the encounter. The Railways following on were dismissed for 244 in their second innings leaving a target of 18 for Mumbai which they reached without fuss.
For Railways, it was a matter of getting a point from the match by batting through the day. Lot of hopes were pinned on former UP opener Shivakant Shukla`s ability to bat long hours.
However Shivakant (77) was caught by Prashant Naik off Ramesh Powar`s bowling and any hopes of saving the match was gone for Railways. Shivakant hit eight boundaries and a six off during his 144-ball knock.
Skipper Sanjay Bangar (27) after his first innings half century again tried his typical stonewalling approach for near about three hours in company of Nitin Bille (34). The pait added 61 runs in 39 overs trying to bat out time.
Bangar was finally dismissed by left-arm spinner Iqbal Abdulla (3/29) caught by Ankit Chavan. The Railways lost their last six wickets for only 39 runs.
With enough time at their disposal, Mumbai required 4.2 overs to complete formalities as skipper Wasim Jaffer hit four boundaries in his unbeaten 19.
Brief Scores: Mumbai 483 and 20/0.
Railways 256 and 244 (Shivakant Shukla 77, N Bille 34, I Abdulla 3/29). Mumbai won by 10 wickets.
Points: Mumbai 6 Railways 0.
PTI
