Mumbai won the final match by 169 runs and won the Ranji Trophy for the 42nd time after a tough fightback from the Vidarbha team. All-rounder Musheer Khan won the man of the match award and Tanush Kotian won the man of the series award.
The final match for the Ranji Trophy was played between Mumbai and Vidarbha at the Wankhede Cricket Stadium. The Mumbai team reached the final for the 48th time and the Vidarbha team for the third time. Under the captaincy of Ajinkya Rahane, Mumbai won the Ranji Trophy for the 42nd time. Ajinkya Rahane has not scored many runs from his bat this season. However, he made Mumbai the Ranji champions with his skillful leadership. Young Mushir Khan became the hero of Mumbai’s victory. Mushir Khan strengthened Mumbai’s position by scoring a brilliant century in the second innings. Then Tanush Kotian took seven wickets to break the fierce resistance of the Vidarbha team and gave Mumbai the Ranji Trophy.
The Mumbai team had set a big challenge in front of the Vidarbha team to score 538 runs to win the Ranji Trophy. The Vidarbha team fought hard. The Vidarbha team was bowled out for 368 runs in the second innings. So Mumbai won the match by 169 runs and lifted the Ranji Trophy. Vidarbha’s dream of winning the Ranji Trophy for the third time was dashed. Mumbai team has won the Ranji Trophy after eight years. Earlier, Mumbai won the Ranji Trophy by defeating Saurashtra in the 2015-16 season.
After the Mumbai team set a target of 538 runs, Vidarbha team lost four wickets for 133 runs at one point while chasing the runs. Karun Nair and captain Akshay Wadkar shared a partnership of 90 runs for the fifth wicket. Karun Nair was dismissed on a wonderful delivery from Musheer Khan. Then Harsh Dubey came into the field and Dubey gave good support to captain Akshay Wadkar. Akshay Wadkar and Harsh Dubey put on a 130-run partnership for the sixth wicket and forced the Mumbai bowlers to sweat.
On the fifth day, the pair of Akshay Wadkar and Harsh Dubey did not allow Mumbai to get a single success in the first session. A very good partnership added to the excitement of the match. However, in the second session, Vidarbha’s batting faltered and in just a few runs, Vidarbha’s second innings ended on 368 runs.
Akshay Wadkar celebrated his first century of the season in the final match. Akshay scored 102 runs off 199 balls. He hit one six and nine fours. In the 130th over, Tanush Kotian dismissed Akshay in the leg and removed a major obstacle to victory. Harsh Dubela was followed by Tushar Deshpande for 65 runs to end Vidarbha team’s hopes. Harsh hit two sixes and five fours. Tushar sealed the victory by dismissing Harsh and Aditya Sarwate (3) in quick succession. Tanush Kotian then sent Yash Thakur to the tent for 6 runs. Ajinkya Rahane handed the ball to veteran bowler Dhawal Kulkarni, who was playing his last Ranji match, and Dhawal Kulkarni smashed Umesh Yadav’s hat-trick to seal Mumbai’s Ranji trophy. The Vidarbha team lost five wickets in just 15 runs.
Tanush Kotian took four wickets for 95 runs. Tanush took three wickets in the first innings. Mushir Khan took two important wickets for 48 runs. Tushar Deshpande picked up two wickets in 53 runs. Shams Mulani took one wicket for 75 runs. Dhawal Kulkarni took one wicket for 38 runs and retired from cricket after winning the Ranji Trophy for Mumbai.
Mumbai batted first in the Ranji Final and scored 224 runs in the first innings. After that, Mumbai took a lead of 119 runs by restricting the Vidarbha team to 105 runs in the first innings. Mumbai built a grip on the match by building a mountain of 418 runs in the second innings. The Vidarbha team put up a tough fight in the second innings. However, Vidarbha’s second innings ended on 368 and Mumbai won the Ranji Trophy for the 42nd time.
The undisputed dominance of the Mumbai team
This is the 42nd time for the Mumbai team to win the Ranji Trophy. Ranji Trophy Mumbai holds the record of winning the Ranji Trophy most times in the history of cricket. Since then, the Karnataka team has won the Ranji Trophy eight times. The Delhi team has won the Ranji Trophy seven times while the Madhya Pradesh team has won it five times. The Baroda team has won the Ranji Trophy five times. Saurashtra, Vidarbha, Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Hyderabad and Railways have won the Ranji Trophy twice each.
Saurashtra has won the Ranji Trophy twice (2019-20, 2022-23) in the last five years. Madhya Pradesh (2021-22), Vidarbha (2018-19) and now Mumbai (2023-24) have become Ranji champions.
Final scoreboard
Mumbai: 1st innings: 224 all out and 2nd innings: 418 all out.
Vidarbha: 1st innings: 105 all out and 2nd innings: 368 all out.
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