Mumbai breaks Vidarbha’s grit, ascends Cloud 42
Skipper Wadkar’s century and his 130run stand with Dubey for the sixth wicket delays the inevitable; Kotian bags four as the visitors crash to defeat losing the last five wickets for 15 runs
Akshay Wadkar and Harsh Dubey put on a great fight. But with the gargantuan target Vidarbha was chasing, the writing was on the wall even before the day started. As a result, 51 minutes into the fifth and final day’s play Mumbai started riding high on Cloud 42 at the Wankhede Stadium here on Thursday.
It took its welloiled bowling unit 42.3 overs to earn the remaining five scalps and engraved its name on the Ranji Trophy yet again. It was fitting that when the ninth wicket fell, Tushar Deshpande asked captain Ajinkya Rahane to throw the ball to Dhawal Kulkarni.
And the veteran pacer — playing his final game — moved the ball slightly and lured Umesh Yadav into a wild heave resulting in the red cherry disturbing the woodwork.
Dramatic collapse
That wicket completed a dramatic collapse, with Mumbai picking up the last five wickets for a paltry 15 runs in just 32 balls.
Tanush Kotian finally sneaked through captain Wadkar’s (102, 199b, 9x4, 1x6) defence after a remarkable knock. It ended the 130run partnership between him and Dubey (65, 128b, 5x4, 2x6).
In the next over, Dubey succumbed to Deshpande’s shortball ploy, with Shams Mulani taking a lunging catch at short backward squareleg.
The same strategy saw Aditya Sarvate — suffering a back spasm — offering Ajinkya Rahane catching practice at midon. Kotian then bowled Yash Thakur before Kulkarni wrapped the game up.
Seamless batting
The morning session, though, belonged to Wadkar and Dubey. The overnight unbeaten duo continued to bat seamlessly on a slow surface to frustrate Mumbai and its loyal supporters
Only after Deshpande was introduced into the attack the batters started looking uncomfortable. And the wheels came off soon after Wadkar converted his eighth 50plus score of the season into a hundred.
Mumbai took home the winner’s cheque for ₹5 crore while Vidarbha was richer by ₹3 crore. The
Mumbai Cricket Association also announced a bonus of ₹5 crore to the squad for ending the eightyear title drought.
The scores:
Mumbai — 1st innings:
Vidarbha — 1st innings:
Mumbai — 2nd innings:
Vidarbha — 2nd innings: Atharva Taide lbw b Mulani 32, Dhruv Shorey b Kotian 28, Aman Mokhade lbw b Musheer 32, Karun Nair c Tamore b Musheer 74, Yash Rathod lbw b Kotian 7, Akshay Wadkar lbw b Kotian 102, Harsh Dubey c Mulani b Deshpande 65, Aditya Sarvate c Rahane b Deshpande 3, Yash Thakur b Kotian 6, Umesh Yadav b Kulkarni 6, Aditya Thakare (not out) 0; Extras (b1, lb12): 13; Total (in 134.3 overs): 368.
Fall of wickets: 164, 264, 3118, 4133, 5223, 6353, 7355, 8356, 9364.
Mumbai bowling: Mulani 359751, Shardul 120460, Kulkarni 8.30381, Deshpande 161532, Kotian 395954, Musheer 243482.
Mumbai won by 169 runs.
PoM: Musheer. PoS: Kotian.
Ecstatic members of the Mumbai team thank the crowd after the triumph.
Minutes after laying his hands on the Ranji Trophy and ending Mumbai’s secondlongest title drought, captain Ajinkya Rahane and the rest of his teammates took the team on a victory parade to celebrate along with the loyal fans.
As captain Ajinkya Rahane and head coach Omkar Salvi sat down to reflect on the team’s titlerun, the duo had a sense of pride.Rahane lauded the BCCI for forcing established cricketers to play the Ranji Trophy. “I want to mention about BCCI for giving importance to domestic cricket, which is a very good thing. Allowing players to go and play domestic cricket is very important,” Rahane said.
In an endeavour to in
centivise achievements in First Class cricket, the Mumbai Cricket Association announced an additional prize of ₹5 crore — over and above the prize money.
“For all the players, nowadays, there are very less institutions which provide jobs. For youngsters, there is also a lot of lure towards franchise cricket (where) there is also a lot of money,” Salvi said.
Rahane said, “This victory means a lot to us. It is very special since almost 10 players were representing India or IndiaA across formats, which is a very good sign. We all are happy (for) guys who are representing India right now from (the) Mumbai team and extremely proud of ourselves for the way we have dominated the season.”