41-time title holder Mumbai will face Madhya Pradesh in the Ranji Trophy 2022 final, slated to be played at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore from June 22.
While Madhya Pradesh thrashed Bengal by 174 runs in the semi-final to book their place in the final, Mumbai made it to the summit clash on the basis of a first-innings lead over Uttar Pradesh in the last-four clash.
MP dominated Bengal throughout the semi-final at KSCA Cricket Ground, Alur. Riding on Himanshu Mantri’s 165, MP posted 341 in their first innings and then bowled out Bengal for 273 with Kumar Kartikeya, Saransh Jain and Puneet Datey sharing three wickets each.
In the second innings, MP scored 281 on the back of skipper Aditya Shrivastava’s 82 and Rajat Patidar’s 79, extending their lead to 349 runs.
Chasing 350 to win, Bengal got bowled out for a paltry 175. Captain Abhimanyu Easwaran (c) was the lone fighter with the bat, scoring 78. Kumar Kartikeya starred with the ball for MP in the final innings, returning with the figures of 5 for 67 in his 32 overs.
On the other hand, Mumbai batters dominated the UP bowlers across the two innings. Asked to bat first, Mumbai rode on centuries from Hardik Tamore (115) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (100) to post 393 in their first innings.
Mumbai’s bowling attack then rose to the occasion, bowling out UP for just 180 to secure a huge first-innings lead of 213 runs. Tushar Deshpande, Tanush Kotian and Mohit Avasthi picked three scalps each to dent UP’s bowling attack.
In the second innings, Jaiswal (181) and Armaan Jaffer (127) toyed with UP’s bowling attack, sharing a marathon 286-run stand for the second wicket. Thanks to their batting exhibition, Mumbai piled up 533/4 (declared) on the board and stretched their lead to a gigantic 746 runs.
While the match ended in a draw, the Prithvi Shaw-led side qualified to the final on first-innings lead.
Brief Scores:
Madhya Pradesh 341 (Himanshu Mantri 165, Akshat Raghuwanshi 63; Mukesh Kumar 4-66) & 281 (Aditya Shrivastava 82, Rajat Patidar 79; Shahbaz Ahmed 5-79) beat Bengal 273 (Shahbaz Ahmed 116, Manoj Tiwary 102; Puneet Datey 3-48) & 175 (Abhimanyu Easwaran 78; Kumar Kartikeya 5-67, Gaurav Yadav 3-19) by 174 runs.
Brief Scores:
Mumbai 393 (Hardik Tamore 115, Yashasvi Jaiswal 100; Karan Sharma 4-46) & 533/4 decl. (Yashasvi Jaiswal 181, Armaan Jaffer; Prince Yadav 2-92) drew with Uttar Pradesh 180 (Shivam Mavi 48; Tushar Deshpande 3-34, Tanush Kotian 3-35). Mumbai progressed to the final on first-innings lead.
