Final destination

PTI

Mumbai, March 4

Shardul Thakur’s all-round brilliance was central to Mumbai’s massive innings and 70-run win over clumsy Tamil Nadu inside three days as they marched to their 48th Ranji Trophy final here today.

After his stunning 109 on the second day that handed the 41-time champions a big 232-run lead, Thakur rattled the TN top-order with two wickets that saw the visitors get shot out for 162 in their second innings in their semifinal.

Baba Indrajith (70) waged a lone battle for TN as other top-order batters walked back without any significant contributions and the middle-order too crumbled.

However, the pair of Indrajith and Pradosh Ranjan Paul showed some resistance, stitching 73 runs for the fourth wicket.

The catalyst of Mumbai’s win was Thakur’s mighty effort — 109, 2/48 and 2/16. He dragged them back into the contest from a perilous 106/7 in the first innings to a handy lead while making his maiden century across formats.

Thakur’s two-wicket burst early on Day 3 set the tone, helping Mumbai reduce the visitors to 10/3.

B Sai Sudharsan was given a reprieve by Shreyas Iyer at midwicket, spilling a sitter, but Thakur had the left-handed opener caught behind with a superb inswinger that took an inside edge.

Thakur swung the new ball dangerously and snaffled the key wicket of N Jagadeesan for a seven-ball duck.

Pacer Mohit Avasthi also tasted success when he had Washington Sundar, who was promoted to No. 3, caught behind by Hardik Tamore.

With the top-order blown away, recovery was a herculean task for TN but the pair of Indrajith and Paul did well to take the attack to the opposition and keep their side in the contest.

However, spinners Tanush Kotian (2/18) and Shams Mulani (4/53) joined pacers in piling up further misery on the TN batters, sharing the remaining six wickets to wrap up the win for the hosts.

“I am taking the game as deep as I can and making a good contribution. We have a deep batting order with Shardul at No. 9,” Kotian said.

“We have made runs down the order, most of the time our team was 100 for five but we have the confidence of reaching 400-450. Mohit (Avasthi) also can bat and Tushar (Deshpande) can too. We have the confidence of playing session-by-session,” added Kotian.

Rathod rises for Vidarbha

Nagpur: A spunky unbeaten 97 by Yash Rathod helped Vidarbha script a superb fightback and reach 343/6 in their second innings against Madhya Pradesh on the third day of their semifinal.

Rathod, who faced 165 balls, received excellent support from his captain Akshay Wadkar (77 off 139 balls) and the pair added 158 runs for the sixth-wicket stand as the hosts recovered from a shaky 161/5. Vidarbha lead by a handy 261 runs.

The first hint of resistance came when Dhruv Shorey (40 off 65 balls) and Aman Mokhade (59 off 100 balls) made 84 runs for the third wicket after Vidarbha lost nightwatchman Akshay Wakhare in the second over of the day after resuming from 13/1. However, left-arm spinner Kumar Kartikeya broke the alliance when he induced an edge from Shorey to press Himanshu Mantri into action behind the stumps.

Vidarbha were 90/3 then, and from there they lost Mokhade and Karun Nair (38) to be at 161/5 and a mere 79 runs ahead.

Brief scores: TN: 146 and 162 in 51.5 overs (Indrajith 70; Shardul 2/16, Mulani 4/53, Kotian 2/18) vs Mumbai: 378 all out in 106.5 overs (Kotian 89*, Musheer 55, Shardul 109; Sai Kishore 6/99); Vidarbha: 170 & 343/6 in 90 overs (Rathod 97*, Wadkar 77, Mokhade 59, Shorey 40; Anubhav 2/68) vs MP: 252. — PTI

We lost in first hour on Day 1, says TN coach Kulkarni

Mumbai: Skipper R Sai Kishore’s inner voice has played a big role in bringing Tamil Nadu this far but his decision to bat on a seaming wicket against Mumbai in the semifinal was wrong, said Tamil Nadu coach Sulakshan Kulkarni today.

In what turned out to be a surprising call which prompted reactions including those from R Ashwin and Saurashtra’s Jaydev Unadkat, Sai Kishore put his side in to bat first on a seaming wicket which had Tamil Nadu reeling at 42/5 inside the first session.

Tamil Nadu could never recover as they were shot out for paltry totals of 146 and 162 in the two innings. “The moment I saw the wicket I exactly knew what we were going to get,” Kulkarni said. “When I saw that they had played on a different pitch in the quarterfinal and what wicket they gave, (that) moment I realised that this is a seaming-friendly wicket and it was going to be a very tough match, we would have to play really well to win this game. I always speak straightforward — we lost the match at 9’o clock on Day 1.” PTI

Wankhede to host Ranji final

Mumbai: The Ranji Trophy final of this season will be played at the Wankhede Stadium here from March 10 to 14, the Mumbai Cricket Association informed today. Mumbai will face the winner between Vidarbha and Madhya Pradesh, who are engaged in the other semifinal at the VCA Ground. The announcement was made after Mumbai made the final.

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