Abdulla gets going with nine-wicket haul

Sun, Nov 1 05:22 AM

With a bagful of wickets — nine in an innings — young left-arm spinner Iqbal Abdulla ensured he would fly off to Chandigarh on Sunday with the Mumbai Ranji team brimming with confidence.

On Saturday, Abdulla finished with sensational bowling figures of 29-9-66-9, guiding the Mumbai under-22 side to an outright victory over Jammu and Kashmir on the fourth day of the CK Nayudu cricket tournament at the DY Patil Stadium.

Had the fellow-left arm spinner Dhaval Parab not claimed the sixth wicket of the J&K innings, Abdulla had a good chance of a dream ten-wicket haul. "The most important thing here is that we won. It was a must-win match for us as we lost to Karnataka on first innings in the last game," said Abdulla, adding that the performance was one his best.

With J&K bundled out for 206 in the second innings, Mumbai had to chase a paltry total of 140. However, the hosts didn't have it easy could manage just a one-wicket win.

For young spinner Abdulla though, the haul came at the right moment. Just a day before, the Mumbai selectors had picked left-arm spinner Harmeet Singh to give skipper Wasim Jaffer another option. "The performance has really boosted my confidence. It feels great to see a figure of nine wickets. I was thinking in the morning that I have to do something special, and it happened," said Abdulla.

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