Sarfaraz Khan slams maiden double ton against UP in a bid to uplift Mumbai's fallen spirit

Uplifting Mumbai's fallen spirits in the Ranji Trophy this season, youngster Sarfaraz Khan slammed his maiden double century on Wednesday against Uttar Pradesh on day 4 at the Wankhede Stadium. With skipper Aditya Tare holding the fort from other end, Sarfaraz Khan laced his double century with 23 fours and six maximums off the 277 deliveries he faced to breach the 200-run mark. Despite, Tare and Sarfaraz's combined effort, Mumbai still trail by 85 runs at Tea Break on day 4. 

Sarfaraz celebrated his achievement by acknowledging his teammates and father-cum-coach Naushad Khan who watched his son's spectacular innings from the stands. Mumbai skipper Aditya Tare also contributed significantly as he notched up 97 runs before falling to Rinku Singh. Uttar Pradesh's mammoth first innings total rested on shoulders of Upendra Yadav who also remained unbeaten as he notched up his double century as well. 

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Sarfaraz-Lad take UP bowlers to the cleaners

Sarfaraz, who was playing against UP for the first time since returning to Mumbai from UP made the most of the opportunity which had come his way. Lad and Sarfaraz took the UP bowlers to task and once again rallied the innings. While Lad played his usual game, Sarfaraz was more aggressive in his approach as they shared an unbroken 115-run stand till tea. Mumbai went to tea at 243/4, 382 runs behind. After tea, the duo kept frustrating the opposition bowlers and kept the score-board ticking.

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Lad got a life on 77 when Wajid dropped a hard chance on his own bowling. Sarfaraz completed his second first-class hundred off 107 balls with a fluent on-drive off Saurabh Kumar and then he was going all guns blazing. He hammered consecutive sixes off pacer Wajid Ali as Mumbai reduced the deficit. Lad, however, missed his ninth first-class hundred, after he was caught by Yadav off slow-left arm bowler Mohammed Saif. He was dismissed at the fag-end of the day, after batting with Sarfaraz for 215 minutes.

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Image Credits: PTI