Kulkarni made Mumbai pay for the misses as he scored his second List A century. | Photo Credit: EMMANUAL YOGINI
After Maharashtra opted to bat on a foggy Saturday, openers Kulkarni (114, 114b, 11×4, 3×6) and Prithvi Shaw (71, 75b, 10×4, 1×6) set the tone with a 140-run partnership. With captain Shardul Thakur limping off the ground in his seventh over, Mumbai lost the plot. And, as the surface eased out, Shaw and Kulkarni flexed their muscles as Maharashtra put up a mammoth 366 for four.
The young Kulkarni held fort while Shaw, who looked set for a hundred, was trapped leg-before by Musheer Khan. The left-arm spinner erupted in celebration after providing the breakthrough. However, the happiness was short-lived as Maharashtra regrouped with captain Ruturaj Gaikwad’s 52-ball-66 (7×4).
A sloppy fielding show let Mumbai down as it dropped more than five catches, and with none of the bowlers making an impact, Kulkarni and Gaikwad’s 108-run partnership put Maharashtra on a firm footing.
Even though Kulkarni was caught at cover off a Tushar Deshpande delivery and Shams Mulani cleaned up Ruturaj, Maharashtra managed to put up a big total, riding on Ramakrishna Ghosh’s unbeaten 27-ball 64 (3×4, 5×6). The all-rounder spared none of the bowlers and picked up 30 runs off Sylvester D’Souza.
Chasing a daunting total, Mumbai was never in the game. Yashasvi Jaiswal lasted just nine deliveries, and Musheer fell for a duck off Pradeep Dadhe as Mumbai lost two wickets for just four runs. Angkrish Raghuvanshi and Siddhesh Lad rebuilt with fifties, and forged a 99-run stand for the third wicket, before Satyajeet Bachhav trapped the latter leg-before.
With Sarfaraz Khan missing out due to a stiffness on the leg, Mumbai’s middle-order crumbled as neither debutant Chinmay Sutar nor Hardik Tamore could show resilience. Raghuvanshi fought a lone battle before falling eight runs short of what could have been his maiden List A century (88b, 9×4, 2×6).
Shardul returned to bat and struggled to take singles. He lasted just five deliveries, and with his exit, Mumbai’s hopes also went up in smoke.
Published – January 03, 2026 07:15 pm IST
