Anantapur, Sep 12 (IANS): Shams Mulani's rearguard act of an unbeaten 88, coupled with a 53 from his Mumbai team-mate Tanush Kotian carried India A to 288/8 in 82 overs on day of their Duleep Trophy second round match against India D at the Rural Development Trust Stadium "A" Ground on Thursday.
After India A slipped to 93/5, Mulani stayed his ground to script a crucial knock for his side, hitting eight fours and three sixes in his unbeaten 174-ball knock, where he used his feet well, pulled delightfully and created room nicely to play his shots.
He also added 91 runs for the seventh wicket with Tanush, who gave him good support by being at the crease for 80 balls, hitting six fours and a six, as the duo, showcasing the typical Mumbai resilient attitude, rescued India A from trouble after being put into batting first by Shreyas Iyer-led India D.
India A didn’t have a great start to their innings as Mayank Agarwal and Pratham Singh were dismissed by pacer Vidwath Kaverappa in the first ten overs. Riyan Parag hit six cracking boundaries in the V, including a straight bat lofted drive going beyond the fence, in his counter-attacking 29-ball 37 before driving away from his body and edging to first slip off Arshdeep Singh.
Tilak Varma prodded at a quicker delivery from off-spinner Saransh Jain, and the sharp outside-edge was caught by second slip, while Shashwat Rawat poked at an outside off-stump delivery and was caught at first slip off Harshit Rana to leave India A at 93/5 in 24.3 overs.
Mulani first joined forces with Kumar Kushagra to stage a rebuilding act for India A, through a 51-run partnership for the sixth wicket. But Arshdeep broke the partnership when Kushagra nicked to gully and fell for 28. Mulani and Kotian then kept India D bowlers at bay for 162 balls in a much-needed fightback, before the latter picked out mid-on off Saurabh Kumar.
By the time stumps came, Prasidh Krishna was caught at leg slip off Rana, but for India A, Mulani is still unbeaten at the crease and he would be the key for them on day two to cross 300-run mark, with the batter 12 runs away from getting his maiden century in first-class cricket.
Brief Scores: India A 288/8 (Shams Mulani 88 not out, Tanush Kotian 53; Vidwath Kaverappa 2-30, Harshit Rana 2-49) against India D.