Mumbai to face Saurashtra in Ranji Trophy final
Aditya Tare
|Image Courtesy: © Twitter - BCCI Domestic
Mumbai, who are the most successful team ever in the Ranji Trophy with 40 titles, made their way into their first final in three seasons on the basis of a first-innings lead after drawing the semi-final match against Madhya Pradesh at Cuttack. Mumbai will take on Saurashtra in the final on February 24.
Brief Scores: Mumbai 371 (Iyer 90, Tare 68,
Going into the fifth and last day of their semi-final clash against Madhya Pradesh, Mumbai had hoped for an outright win after asking their opponents to chase a mammoth 571 in the second innings. But centuries from Naman Ojha and Harpreet Singh helped Madhya Pradesh earn a creditable draw by making 361 for 5 before the players shook hands to end the match.
Starting their day at 99/2, Mumbai removed opener Aditya Shrivastava within the first hour of play as Badre Alam produced an edge to pick his wicket for 68. Ojha and Harpreet toiled hard and formed a 159-run stand for the fourth wicket to thwart Mumbai’s plans of an outright win. Ojha scored 113 while Harpreet made 105 to take the team to a healthy position. Both teams decided to settle for a draw before the arrival of the mandatory overs with the match slowly inching to a close.
Mumbai will now face Saurashtra in the final on February 24 at the MCA stadium in Pune, in what is a repeat of the 2012-13 Ranji trophy final, which was won by Mumbai.
(Also Read: Who has been the best player among the four? - A statistical comparison)
