Ranji Trophy 2021-22 Final: MP creates history, trounces Mumbai to win maiden title
Madhya Pradesh has trounced Mumbai by six wickets to win the Ranji Trophy 2021-22 Final on Sunday. It is MP's first-ever domestic title win across formats.
FollowIt was a historic moment for Madhya Pradesh cricket, as its domestic cricket side won the 2021-22 Ranji Trophy Final. Played at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, MP trounced record 41-time former champion Mumbai by six wickets. As a result, it happened to be MP's first-ever domestic title across formats, thus entering the history books for the first time. Incidentally, it was also MP's maiden win over Mumbai. Yash Dubey, Shubham Sharma and Rajat Patidar nailed it with the bat, while Kumar Kartikeya and Gaurav Yadav were the top performers with the ball. As a result, Twitter also expressed its charm in the same.
It all started with the Prithvi Shaw-led Mumbai opting to bat. Thanks to Yashasvi Jaiswal (78) and Sarfaraz Khan (134), Mumbai managed a modest total of 374, while pacer Gaurav bagged four. Although it seemed like Mumbai would give a tough competition to the MP batters with the ball, it was never so. MP posted an impressive total of 536, thanks to blistering triple centuries from Dubey (133), Shubham (116) and Patidar (122), whereas spinner Shams Mulani bagged a fifer, with MP leading by 162.
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With the first-innings lead, the game had already somewhat slipped away from the grasp of Mumbai. Mumbai could not do much of a miracle in the following innings either and was bowled out for 269, with Suved Parkar (51) being the top scorer. In contrast, chinaman spinner Kumar Kartikeya claimed a four-for, as it handed a meagre target of 108 to MP on the final day.
In reply, MP was a bit shaky, as the batters sometimes looked ambitious and gave away four wickets. However, it never looked troubled in chasing the total down, with opener Himanshu Mantri (37) being the highest scorer in the innings. Of the four wickets that fell, Mulani scalped three, while the MP players burst out of joy onto the field, besides lifting an emotional Chandrakant Pandit (MP head coach) on their shoulders, who won his sixth Ranji title as the coach.
Brief scores: MUM 374 (Jaiswal- 78, Sarfaraz- 134; Yadav- 4/106) & 269 (Parkar- 51; Kartikeya- 4/98) lost to MP 536 (Dubey- 133, Shubham- 116, Patidar- 122; Mulani- 5/173) & 108/4 (Mantri- 37; Mulani- 3.41).
