 "Dominant Mumbai defeat Vidarbha by 169 runs to clinch record 42nd Ranji Trophy title")
A dominant Mumbai defeated Vidarbha by 169 runs at the Wankhede Stadium on Thursday to seal a record 42nd Ranji Trophy title. Musheer Khan (136), Shreyas Iyer (95) and Ajinkya Rahane (73) all starred with the bat for Mumbai in the second innings, and that proved to be the game changer, guiding the hosts to 418.
That meant Vidarbha were set a target of 538. But the visitors did not give up either. Dhruv Shorey and Atharva Taide forged a 64-run stand for the opening stand before skipper Akshay Wadkar (102) and Karun Nair forged 90 runs for the fifth wicket. Akshay and Harsh Dubey (65) would then build a century-run stand for the sixth wicket but Vidarbha’s fightback was short-lived after they were bundled out for 368.
Watch: Dhawal Kulkarni takes final wicket as Mumbai win Ranji Trophy
In a contest that ebbed and flowed, Mumbai came out as the winners after Vidarbha frustrated them for long periods of play in the last two days.
Wadkar not only led the fight for his side with his first century of the year while also crossing the 600-run mark this season. Dubey brought up only his second fifty of the first-class career.
Together, they forged the longest stand of the innings, consuming 255 balls in 194 minutes from day four until a little after the resumption of the second session on the final day.
Wadkar fell shortly after play resumed – leg before off Tanush Kotian (4/95) – and once the pair was broken, it all ended in a jiffy for the visitors who have now lost the Ranji Trophy final on the third instance after winning two titles.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsTushar Deshpande continued employ the short ball to dismiss Dubey (65 off 128 balls, 5 x4s, 2x6s) and Aditya Sarwate, who missed the majority of the game owing to a back spasm.
While Kotian cleaned up Yash Thakur (6) for his fourth wicket, Dhawal Kulkarni signed off from all forms of cricket with the final wicket of the game in the form of Umesh Yadav for a fairytale ending.
Brief scores:
Mumbai: 224 & 418 beat Vidarbha: 105 & 368 in 134.4 overs (Atharva Taide 32, Aman Mokhade 32, Karun Nair 74, Akshay Wadkar 102; Tanush Kotian 4/95) by 169 runs.
With PTI inputs
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