Madhya Pradesh make history, win maiden Ranji title by beating Mumbai

Bengaluru: Madhya Pradesh made history on Sunday as they clinched their maiden Ranji Trophy after beating 41-time champions Mumbai by six wickets on Day 5 of the final at Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Sunday.

Chasing a meagre 108 runs after skittling out Mumbai for 269 in the second innings, Madhya Pradesh crossed the line riding high on the back of Rajat Patidar (30 no), Shubham Sharma (30) and Himanshu Mantri (37) in just 29.5 overs before the tea break.

And crowning themselves with the maiden Ranji Trophy title is an extraordinary feat in the absence of their stars Avesh Khan and Venkatesh Iyer who are on Team India duty for the T20 Ireland series.

For domestic guru Chandrakant Pandit, this win was yet another feather in the cap who was fittingly paraded by Madhya Pradesh players on their shoulders.

Mumbai defeated every team enroute to the final, but they were totally decimated by Madhya Pradesh in all departments.

Sarafaraz Khan helped Mumbai put up a fighting total with his 134-run ton in the first innings, but it looked pale before the centuries of Shubham, Yash Dubey and Patidar.

Earlier, Mumbai who had posted 374 in their first innings, resumed Day 5 at 113 for 2 in reply to Madhya Pradesh' mammoth first innings total of 536.

Hoping for an outright victory, Mumbai came out all guns blazing and scored at a brisk pace to first erase the 49 runs deficit and then take at least 170 to 200 runs lead.

In this endeavor, Suved Parkar notched up a quick fifty and Sarfaraz Khan played aggressively, but Madhya Pradesh bowlers kept picking wickets at regular intervals and scripted two run outs too.

Off-spinner Kumar Karthikeya was the star bowler for Madhya Pradesh as he finished with figures of 4 for 98. Parth Sahani and Gaurav Yadav scalped two wickets each.

With a humongous task of bundling out Madhya Pradesh below 108, Mumbai started off well by dismissing the first-innings centurion Dubey cheaply for 1 as Dhaval Kulkarni struck in the second over. Mantri and first innings centurion Shubham steadied the ship for Madhya Pradesh.

First innings five-wicket hauler, Shams Mulani picked up a couple of wickets to give some jitters in Madhya Pradesh camp, but another from the first innings, Patidar joined Shubham and guided his side nigh to the finish.

Shubham was hauled up for 30 as he tried to finish with a flourish, with Mulani taking his third wicket.

Madhya Pradesh captain Aditya Shrivastava came in and made sure that he, along with Patidar in the middle, ensured an early finish to the match. It was Patidar who scored the winning runs.

Shubham was adjudged Player of the Match for his century in the first innings and steady knock in the second.

Mumbai’s Sarfaraz who scored more than 900 runs for his side this season declared Player of the Series.

Brief scores: Mumbai 374 & 269 (Suved Parkar 51,Sarfaraz Khan 45, Prithvi Shaw 44; Kumar Kartikeya 4-98) lost to Madhya Pradesh 536 (Yash Dubey 133, Rajat Patidar 122, Shubham Sharma 116; Shams Mulani 5-173) and 108/4 (Himanshu Mantri 37, Rajat PAtidar 30*; Shams Mulani 3-41) by 6 wickets. (UNI)