Ranji Trophy 2022 Final, Mumbai vs Madhya Pradesh: Madhya Pradesh beat Mumbai by 6 wickets and lift maiden Ranji Trophy Title in 71 years.
Brief Scores: Madhya Pradesh 536 (Dubey 133, Patidar 122, Sharma 116, Mulani 173/5) & 108/4 (Mantri 37, Patidar 30*, Sharma 30, Mulani 41/3) beat Mumbai 374 (Sarfaraz 134, Jaiswal 78, Yadav 106/4, Agarwal 81/3) & 269 (Parkar 51, Khan 45, Shaw 44, Kartikeya 98/4) by 6 wickets
Player of the Match – Shubham Sharma (116 & 30) Player of the Series – Sarfaraz Khan (982 runs)
Madhya Pradesh created history on Sunday as they won their first-ever Ranji Trophy title by defeating Mumbai by 6 wickets at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. Till now, this coveted prize had evaded the Madhya Pradesh Ranji team for more than 70 years. They came closest to the title in 1998-99 when they made it into the Rani Final against Karnataka. However, they got defeated by Sunil Joshi-led Karnataka by 96 runs on the same ground.
Coincidentally, current coach of Madhya Pradesh Chandrakant Pandit was the losing captain of Madhya Pradesh back then in the 1998-99 Ranji Trophy Final against Karnataka. Pandit couldn’t win the Ranji Trophy title for Madhya Pradesh with his captaincy 23 years ago but he accomplished the rare feat now during his coaching stint with the state side.
Chandrakant Pandit, who is a legendary cricketer from Mumbai, has made his name as a successful coach in the domestic circuit of India. He earlier coached the Mumbai team to two successive Ranji titles in 2002-03 and 2003-04, and later revamped the Vidarbha team to help them clinch two successive Ranji titles in 2017-18 and 2018-19. Under Pandit, Mumbai clinched the Ranji Trophy 2015-16 as well. Current Mumbai coach Amol Mujumdar played under the coaching of Pandit for many years and now the Guru has outwitted his disciple to help Madhya Pradesh win their first Ranji Trophy.
Madhya Pradesh battled hard with many worthy opponents to win the silverware. Aditya Shrivastava-led Madhya Pradesh team defeated Punjab by 10 wickets in the quarter-final game at KSCA Cricket Ground in Alur, then went on to vanquish Abhimanyu Easwaran-led Bengal in the semi-final by 174 runs at the same ground. Their opener Himanshu Mantri played a key role in the quarter-final against Bengal by smashing 165 runs in the first innings.
In this triumphant campaign, Madhya Pradesh batters Rajat Patidar (658), Yash Dubey (614) and Shubham Sharma (608), each scored over 600 runs in the season. They are in the top ten run-scorers list in this edition of Ranji Trophy. Coincidentally, these three players smashed individual centuries in the Ranji Final too. Mumbai’s middle-order batter Sarfaraz Khan is the top run-getter in this edition of Ranji Trophy, with 982 runs in six matches.
Madhya Pradesh lead spinner Kumar Kartikeya picked 32 wickets in the victorious campaign and was placed at the second position in the wicket-takers table after Mumbai spinner Shams Mulani( 45). Madhya Pradesh seamer Gaurav Yadav (23) also played a key role in their campaign this year and finished fourth on the top wicket-takers list.
Let’s scan the top three performances from the final day of Ranji Trophy 2022 Final between Mumbai and Madhya Pradesh.
Kumar Kartikeya picked four wickets to floor Mumbai’s top order
Madhya Pradesh’s premier spinner Kumar Kartikeya was amongst the wickets in the second innings of Mumbai. He gave the first blow to Mumbai on Day 4 by removing make-shift opener Hardik Tamore on a personal score of 25 and broke the whirlwind partnership of 63 runs between Tamore and skipper Prithvi Shaw.
Kartikeya took his second wicket by dismissing youngster Suved Parkar, who made 51 off 58 deliveries. Parkar was looking all set to score a huge knock, however, Kartikeya shattered the stumps of the batter with an incisive flatter delivery. In the same over, Kartikeya dismissed another premier Mumbai batter Yashasvi Jaiswal on a meagre score of one. These two scalps by Kartikeya left Mumbai five down.
Kartikeya also picked the wicket of lower-order batter Tanush Kotian and helped their side to wrap up Mumbai’s innings for less than 300, as the rest two wickets of Mumbai were picked by Madhya Pradesh pacers quickly and Mumbai got all-out on 269.
Read More: Ranji Trophy 2022 Final, Mumbai vs MP, Day 4: Patidar, Jain give 162-run lead to MP; Mumbai 113-2
Suved Parkar struck quickfire fifty
Suved Parkar, a young Mumbai batter, who was playing only his third first-class match, smashed a blistering half-century when his side Mumbai needed vital runs. Mumbai openers, Prithvi Shaw and Hardik Tamore, played positively to score quick runs to put the opponents under pressure on Day 4.
Parkar followed the same approach and tried to add quick runs. The 19-year-old batter was unbeaten on nine off 14 deliveries at the end of Day 4. Parkar started with a boundary on the first ball of Day 5 bowled by spinner Kartikeya. He launched a huge six over long-on against pacer Gaurav Yadav. Instead of hitting big strokes, young Parkar milked runs through singles & doubles. Then, he smashed two boundaries in an over of seamer Anubhav Agarwal and completed his fifty in just 56 deliveries. However, after getting his fifty, he got bowled by left-arm spinner Kartikeya. Parkar made 51 runs off 58 deliveries with the help of three fours and one six.
After the wicket of Parkar, Sarfaraz Khan also played positively as Mumbai were looking to post a considerable target to chase for Madhya Pradesh in the fourth innings. However, Mumbai could make only 269 runs in their second innings and gave an inadequate target of just 108 runs to Madhya Pradesh.
Read More: Ranji Trophy 2022 Final, Mumbai vs MP, Day 3: Dubey-Sharma 222-run stand ensures 1st inn lead for MP
Shubham Sharma and Rajat Patidar helped their side reach the target
Madhya Pradesh’s one-down batter Shubham Sharma played a pivotal role in this final game against Mumbai. He struck a fine century in the first innings of this game and again played a vital knock of 30 (75) to help their side chase down the target of 108 runs.
While chasing the target, Sharma had to come in the middle early in the innings as his side lost their first wicket very early. Sharma added 52 runs with Himanshu Mantri for the second wicket patiently to help his side reach close to the target. Then, he added 35 runs with Rajat Patidar for the third wicket.
When the win was already in sight, Sharma lost his wicket while playing an attacking stroke. He made 30 runs off 75 deliveries, whereas Patidar made the same number of runs off 37 deliveries. Due to these vital knocks of Sharma, Patidar and Himanshu Mantri, Madhya Pradesh reached the target of 108 runs after losing four wickets and clinched the silverware.
Shubham Sharma was awarded the Player of the Match award for his contribution in both innings and Mumbai’s Sarfaraz Khan got the Player of the Series award for ending as the top run-scorer in this edition of Ranji Trophy.
Read More: Ranji Trophy 2022 Final, Mumbai vs MP, Day 2: Sarfaraz century takes Mumbai to 374; MP at 123-1
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