September 10, 2007	Monday	Sha'aban 27, 1428

KARACHI, Sept 9: Contrasting centuries by Prashant Naik and Abhishek Nayar put Ranji Trophy champions Mumbai in an impregnable position on the second day of the four-day Nissar Trophy match against Karachi Urban at the National Stadium here on Sunday.

Emulating openers Ajinkya Rahane and Sahil Kukreja, both of them having made hundreds on Saturday, Naik celebrated his first-class debut with a sedate 118 while Nayar compiled a maiden first-class hundred as he hit a magnificent 152 to help Mumbai declared their first innings at a mammoth 623 for six.

Faced with a tricky 20-over period, Karachi Urban, the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy winners, closed at 30 for one. The casualty was left-hander Agha Sabir, who was bowled by debutant off-spinner Iqbal Abdulla for 14. The hosts have a mountain to climb at this stage as they are still 593 runs in deficit heading into Monday’s third day.

Having lost Hiken Shah, trapped LBW for 47, in the sixth over of the day after resuming at the overnight tally of 325, Mumbai were well served by Naik and the left-handed Nayar, who together brought up the second double-century stand of the innings. They added 235 for the fifth-wicket in

Naik, who played second fiddle to his aggressive partner, negotiated 227 balls and adorned his 307-minute knock with 11 fours and one before a loose stroke saw his downfall.

In sharp contrast, Nayar 152 came off 162 balls with 16 fours and three sixes. He soon followed Naik back in the hut when he was held at long-off by Asim Kamal at long-off while trying to blast pacer Anwar Ali Khan.

Karachi Urban finally heaved a sigh of relief when Mumbai skipper Vinayak Mane declared after seeing the hosts toil under the sun for 158 overs before Agha Sabir’s scalp in the closing overs completed an excellent day for the visitors.

Scoreboard

MUMBAI (1st Innings, overnight 325-3):

S.O. Kukreja c Amin b Anwar 110

A.M. Rahane c Amin b Uzair 143

V.R. Mane run out 19

H.N. Shah lbw b Uzair 47

P.T. Naik c Saeed b Hasan 118

A.M. Nayar c Asim b Anwar 152

O.D. Gurav not out 10

I. Abdulla not out 6

EXTRAS (B-7, LB-6, W-2, NB-3) 18

TOTAL (for six decl, 158 overs) 623

FALL OF WKTS: 1-247, 2-259, 3-285, 4-350, 5-585, 6-615.

DID NOT BAT: M. Mangela, V.S. Yeligati, A.M. Salvi.

BOWLING: Anwar Ali Khan 37-3-148-2 (1nb, 1w); Malik Aftab 24-7-80-0; Uzair-ul-Haq 29-3-135-2 (2nb); Azam Hussain 42-7-152-0; Asif Zakir 16-1-62-0; Hasan Raza 10-1-33-1.

KARACHI URBAN (1st Innings):

Agha Sabir b Abdulla 14

Khurram Manzoor not out 14

Amin-ur-Rehman not out 0

EXTRAS (NB-2) 2

TOTAL (for one wkt, 20 overs) 30

FALL OF WKT: 1-29.

TO BAT: Asif Zakir, Asim Kamal, Hasan Raza, Saeed bin Nasir, Anwar Ali Khan, Azam Hussain, Malik Aftab, Uzair-ul-Haq.

BOWLING (to-date): Salvi 8-4-12-0 (1nb); Mangela 8-4-8-0; Nayar 2-0-5-0 (1nb); Abdulla 2-0-5-1.