Mumbai clinched their 41st Ranji Trophy title by defeating Saurashtra by an innings and 21 runs in the final match played at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune on Friday.
The win was a result of the commanding performance from the Mumbai side as they won the match inside just three days.
Dhawal Kulkarni was the hero of the first innings with figures of 5/42. Shardul Thakur also played a major role as he scalped a five-for in the second innings to bundle Saurashtra out for 115.
Starting the day, Mumbai had a slender 27-run lead but overnight batsman Siddhesh Lad played a crucial knock of 88 to help Mumbai gain a handy lead of 136 runs. He was lucky on the way as he was dropped by Cheteshwar Pujara early in the day and he made them pay big time, adding 103 runs for the 10th wicket with Balwinder Sandhu which proved to be crucial.
Mumbai captain Aditya Tare, who took four catches in the second innings, set the record for the most dismissals by a wicket-keeper in a Ranji Trophy season with 48 dismissals.
{{/usCountry}}Mumbai captain Aditya Tare, who took four catches in the second innings, set the record for the most dismissals by a wicket-keeper in a Ranji Trophy season with 48 dismissals.
{{/usCountry}}Saurashtra’s fielding let them down throughout the match as they dropped crucial catches which proved extremely costly.
This is Mumbai’s first title in three seasons. They had won their 40th title in 2012-13 under the captaincy of former Indian fast bowler Ajit Agarkar.