Tushar Despande
He then trapped Nehal Wadhera lbw for eight in the third over as Himachal slipped to 22/3 inside the first six overs. Mohit Avasthi accounted for the other opener, Innesh Mahajan, who scored 11. The Mumbai pacer made an immediate impact, dismissing opener Shubham Arora for a duck with the first ball of the match.
Himachal captain Pukhraj Mann (35), wicketkeeper Vaibhav Kalita (33) and Akash Vasisht (39) attempted to revive the innings, but their contributions were insufficient to take the hosts to a competitive total. Mumbai’s openers also failed to capitalise on the opportunity, with Divyaansh Saxena scoring nine and Angkrish Raghuvanshi making 20. However, Musheer Khan (34 not out) and captain Siddhesh Lad (32 not out) steadied the innings with an unbeaten 75-run partnership for the third wicket. Deshpande, playing his 51st first-class match, is also closing in on the milestone of 150 wickets in the format.