Ranji Trophy: Shardul Thakur, Shivam Dube Shine For Mumbai Against Hapless Assam

India internationals Shardul Thakur and Shivam Dube starred with the ball and the bat respectively as 41-time champions Mumbai took an upperhand over Assam on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy Group B match in Mumbai on Friday. Shardul (6/21) was simply unplayable with the new ball as he single-handedly dismantled Assam for a meagre 84 in 32.1 overs after Mumbai opted to bowl. Left-arm spinner Shams Mulani (2/8) also chipped in with a couple of wickets.

It was a struggle for Assam from the first ball as only three of their batters could manage double-digit scores with Abhishek Thakuri (31) being the top-scorer.

In reply, Dube smashed his way to an unbeaten 101 off 95 balls with the help of 10 boundaries and five sixes to guide Mumbai to 217 for 6 in 48.4 overs at stumps on the first day.

Besides Dube, Mulani (31), Prithvi Shaw (30), skipper Ajinkya Rahane (22) and wicketkeeper Hardik Tomare (22) also contributed for Mumbai.

For Assam, Rahul Singh (2/42) and Dibakar Johri (2/49) snared two wickets each.

Mumbai now enjoy a lead of 133 runs over Assam.

In Kolkata, Mukesh Kumar (4/18), who has been released from the Indian team to play in the premier domestic tournament, and Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal (4/47) shared eight wickets between them to bundle out Bihar for 95 in 46.4 overs after Bengal opted to bowl at the Eden Gardens.

Bengal, in response, finished the day at 111 for 2 in 33 overs. Opener Abhimanyu Easwaran was batting on 48 in the company of Anustup Majumdar (13 batting).

Bengal led Bihar by 16 runs.

In Lucknow, Sanjeet Desai hit an unbeaten 113 while skipper Amandeep Khare was batting on 70 to take Chhattisgarh to 238 for 4 in 87 overs after deciding to bat against Uttar Pradesh.

Aaqib Khan (2/55) picked up two