Ranji Trophy 23-24: Mumbai clinch record-extending 42nd title, defeat Vidarbha by 169 runs
Mumbai win record-extending 42nd Ranji Trophy title
Mumbai became record-extending42-time Ranji Trophy champions on Thursday (Mar 14) as Dhawal Kulkarni castled Umesh Yadav in his final first-class match to have the perfect fairytale sendoff. Despite the 169-run margin of the victory, Mumbai had to dig deep in the last two days as Vidharbha threatened to do the impossible.
Mumbai's latest Ranji Trophy triumph comes after a long, eight-year hiatus when they last won against Saurashtra. Meanwhile, Vidharbna suffered an agonising loss, having won their last two Ranji finals.
Chasing a humongous target of 538, both Vidarbha openers Atharva Taide and Dhruv Shorey got starts but could not capitalise on it.Karun Nair played a measured knock in the middle order, scoring 74 runs and eating away a lot of time from the match.
Mumbai were dominant for the major parts of the game but might have felt anxious as Harsh Dubey and Akshay Wadkar batted beautifully on the Day-4 morning to add certain jeopardy to the game.
Wadkar smashed his second hundred in a Ranji final and showed his class yet again, albeit in a losing cause. Just when it looked like Mumbai were going through the motions, Tanush Kotian put his hands up and delivered the crucial breakthrough, catching Wadkar plumb in front of the sticks.
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The dismissal of Vidarbha's captain opened the floodgates and Mumbai quickly wrapped up the innings with the last five wickets falling in the space of 15 runs.
Vidarbha could have made the contest closer if the batters had not floundered in the first innings. Having skittled a strong Mumbai batting lineup for 224, Vidarbha lost the plot with the bat and could only conjure 105 runs in response.
With the advantage firmly on the side, Mumbai pressed on the throttle and piled up 418 runs in the second innings, courtesy of a daddy hundred from Musheer Khan (136)and useful contributions from Shreyas Iyer (95), Ajinkya Rahane (73) and Shams Mulani (50).
Speaking about the title win, skipper Ajinkya Rahane said: "Last year, we didn't qualify by 1 run, that really hurt us. We knew we had the talent and individuals, but what is important was creating the right culture and attitude."
"We enjoy the win because this has been a long, hard season. Whenever we get back in June, we'll plan for the future. Want to credit the Mumbai support staff for their efforts in the backend throughout the season."