Shreyas Iyer’s first-class career’s best performance of 233 put defending champions Mumbai ahead at the end of day 2 of the Ranji Trophy match against Odisha at the MCA-BKC venue on Thursday.
Iyer’s marathon knock helped the hosts declare their first inning at 602/4, then reduced Odisha to 146/5. Iyer began the day on 152 and added 81 to his overnight total. His overnight partner, Siddhesh Lad, who resumed on 116, finished unbeaten at 169. The two amassed 354 runs for the fourth wicket, a Mumbai Ranji Trophy record that surpassed Rohit Sharma and Sushant Marathe’s 342 against Gujarat at Brabourne Stadium in 2009-10.
Siddhesh Lad took a conservative approach while Iyer was demonstrating his strokeplay, and with this strategy, Iyer scored his third first-class double century in just 201 balls with a lofted straight shot for four, off bowler Debabrata Pradhan. He was stumped by wicketkeeper Aasirwad Swain off left-arm spinner Harshit Rathod’s bowling after smashing 24 fours and nine sixes.
This double ton comes at a time when Iyer is hoping to rediscover his old form and trying to make a comeback to the Test side.
After Iyer was dismissed, 21-year-old Suryansh Shedge took advantage of a fatigued Odisha bowling attack, smashing a 36-ball 79 to help Mumbai reach 600 runs in a quick time. His knock of 79 runs featured six sixes and seven fours.
After coming to bat on Day 2, Odisha was in difficulty from the start of their innings, with Swastik Samal playing onto Shardul Thakur for a duck. Aasirwad Swain and Sandeep Pattnaik formed a 56-run partnership for the third wicket before, and despite this, Odisha ended day 2 with a score of 77/4. Mumbai spinner Himanshu Singh claimed two wickets, as Odisha finished the day trailing by 456 runs.
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