 "Mumbai had restricted Vidarbha to 223/5 before seeing them off for 368 in the Ranji Trophy final at the Wankhede Stadium on Thursday. PTI")
Mumbai cricket team produced a dominant display to clinch their 42nd Ranji Trophy title, beating Vidarbha by 169 runs in the final at the Wankhede Stadium on Thursday. Vidarbha were set a target of 538 by the hosts, and got off to a confident start. Dhruv Shorey and Atharva Taide forged 64 runs for the opening stand before the latter was dismissed by Shams Mulani for 32. However, captain Akshay Wadkar put up an inspired fightback, going onto score a century , and forging crucial stands with Karun Nair (74) and Harsh Dubey (65).
Vidarbha, however, were 353/6 once Tanush Kotian dismissed Wadkar, and the visitors never really got back into the game after their captain’s dismissal. Kotian was the pick of the bowlers for Mumbai, finishing with figures of 4/95 in the second innings while also taking three wickets in the first.
Mumbai had set the platform for victory with a stupendous performance with the bat. Musheer Khan (136), Shreyas Iyer (95), Ajinkya Rahane (73) and Shams Mulani (50*) had led the hosts to 418 in the second innings, a marked improvement from the first when they were bowled out for 224.
Here’s how netizens reacted to Mumbai’s Ranji Trophy title victory on microblogging platform ‘X’: