The 2021-22 Ranji Trophy semi-finals are done and dusted. While Mumbai drew against Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh trounced Bengal by 174 runs.
The finalists of the Ranji Trophy 2021-22 have been decided, and it would be Mumbai vs Madhya Pradesh on June 22 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. On Saturday, the semi-finals of the tournament were done and dusted. While Mumbai drew against Uttar Pradesh, it qualified due to its first innings lead, which happened to be 213 runs. As for the other game, Madhya Pradesh hammered Bengal by 174 runs. Consequently, MP would be featuring in the final of the competition for the first time in 23 years. Meanwhile, here's how the matches turned out and how netizens reacted.
The Mumbai game was held at the Just Cricket Academy Ground in Bengaluru, while UP had invited Mumbai to bat. The decision seemingly backfired, as Mumbai posted a convincing total of 393, with Yashashvi Jaiswal (100) and Hardik Tamore (115) dominating. On the other hand, UP was bundled out for 180, thanks to Tushar Deshpande, Mohit Avasthi and Tanush Kotian bagging three wickets each, while Shivam Mavi (48) was UP's top scorer.
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Mumbai decided against enforcing the follow-on and opted to perform an impressive show with the bat again. While Jaiswal (181) was outstanding yet again, Armaan Jaffer (127) was ingrained this time. Mumbai finished on 533/4, resulting in a lame draw, while the first innings lead had already done the job for it.
As for Bengal's game, it happened at the KSCA Cricket Ground in Alur. MP opted to bat and could manage 341, with wicketkeeper-opener Himanshu Mantri's 165, while Mukesh Kumar claimed four. On the other hand, Bengal was bowled out for 273, with twin centuries from Manoj Tiwary (102) and Shahbaz Ahmed (116), whereas Kumar Kartikeya, Saransh Jain and Puneet Datey bagged three each.
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In the second innings, MP was shot out for 281, with skipper Aditya Shrivastava (82) top-scoring, while Ahmed and Pradipta Pramanik claimed five and four each. Bengal succumbed to pressure, needing 350 to win, as skipper Abhimanyu Easwaran (78) top-scored, while Kumar Kartikeya's fifer rattled Bengal by 174 runs.
