Mumbai seal final date with Saurashtra

A resilient batting display by Naman Ojha and Harpreet Singh wasn't enough for Madhya Pradesh to overhaul the massive 571-run target, as Mumbai coasted through to their 45th Ranji Trophy final (in 82 editions of the tournament). Having bagged 40 titles already, Indian domestic cricket's most successful side will have to battle it with Saurashtra in the final for their 42nd trophy.

Mumbai had won the Cooch Behar Trophy coming into the tournament. However, the start wasn't easy as they would have liked, allowing Andhra, who eventually finished at the bottom of Group B table, to run away with the first innings lead.

The team was young with most players in their first or second season, the team management still looking for a settled combination; their performance in the previous season was amongst the team's most unconvincing displays. Aditya Tare, who was appointed as the full time captain for the season, wasn't the most successful cricketers to have led Mumbai. With results not coming their way, it didn't take long for former cricketers to be critical about the death of 'khadoos' cricket.

But since the first match of the Ranji season, Mumbai hasn't dropped their standards. There were times like in the group stage matches against Tamil Nadu and MP, where they came from behind to clinch thrilling encounters. They displayed dominance and finished with a favourable result in every match that followed. In the semi-finals, too, they never let their opponents sniff a chance of entering the final.

MP were well and truly out of the contest entering the final day of play at the DRIEMS Stadium in Cuttack on Wednesday (February 17). Resuming the innings on 99 for 2, Aditya Shrivastava departed in the first session, edging a delivery by Badre Alam to wicketkeeper.

However, for 44.3 overs since that dismissal, they didn't give Mumbai any chance to celebrate on a pitch that didn't have much on it for the bowlers, especially spinners. The four-pronged medium-pace attack of Alam, Shardul Thakur, Balvinder Sandhu Jr and Abhishek Nayar toiled hard looking to break the stand between Ojha and Harpreet, who notched up their respective centuries and put on a 159-run stand for the fourth wicket in that period.

Even as the runs came at a fair clip, the target was too mighty to bother Mumbai's captain. As many as nine bowlers (barring Tare and Shreyas Iyer) rolled their arms over, with part-timers Suryakumar Yadav and Bhavin Thakkar eventually dismissing Ojha and Harpreet respectively.

Umpires called stumps with Madhya Pradesh on 361 for 5, 210 runs behind the target. Mumbai went through to the final on the basis of their first innings lead of 144 runs.

Mumbai comprehensively outplayed MP in all departments - Iyer smashed two quick-fire half-centuries, Tare and Suryakumar scored a century each, Nayar and Siddhesh Lad struck a half-century each, and Sandhu bagged a fifer.

While Saurashtra will be gunning for their maiden Ranji Trophy title at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune, starting on February 24, Mumbai's young bunch will be waiting for their chance to become a part of the rich legacy.

Brief Scores: Mumbai 371 & 426 (Suryakumar Yadav 115, Aditya Tare 109; Harpreet Singh 3-55, Ishwar Pandey 3-103) drew with Madhya Pradesh 227 & 361-5 (Naman Ojha 113, Harpreet Singh 105; Bhavin Thakkar 1-3, Suryakumar Yadav 1-20). Mumbai qualify on the basis of first innings lead.