The Ajinkya Rahane-led team crushed Tamil Nadu in the semis by an innings and 70 runs to reach Ranji Trophy final for 48th time.
Mumbai displayed a dominant performance with both bat and ball to defeat Tamil Nadu in the semi-finals and advance to their record-extending 48th Ranji Trophy final. The Ajinkya Rahane-led team crushed Tamil Nadu in the semis by an innings and 70 runs to stamp their authority. Riding on Shardul Thakur and Tanush Kotian’s counter-attacking knocks lower down the order Mumbai put pressure on Tamil Nadu as the bowlers did the rest of the job to make it an emphatic win for them. The Shardul-led Mumbai bowling attack hunted in the pack in both innings as their collective efforts outclassed the TN batters.
Mumbai record-extending 48th Ranji Trophy final.
After taking a heft 232-run lead in the first innings, Mumbai took the charge over the visitors with a clinical bowling performance. Tamil Nadu, who were bowled out for 146 in the first innings, failed to put up a challenge in the second innings too as they were bundled out for just 162.
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Shams Mulani was the pick of the bowlers for Mumbai with four wickets, while Shardul Thakur, Tanush Kotian and Mohit Avasthi claimed two wickets each.
Baba Indrajith was the only batter from Tamil Nadu who put up a fight as his 70-run knock displayed grit and determination but lack of support from the other end was the downfall of his side.
Meanwhile, resuming Day 3 from 353 for 9, Tanush Kotian (89*) and Tushar Deshpande (26) added 25 runs more to the total before the latter got dismissed by Washington Sundar.
Earlier, on day 2 it was Shardul’s maiden first-class ton which laid the foundation of Mumbai’s emphatic win. They were at 106/7, 40 runs behind Tamil Nadu when Thakur came on the crease on Sunday. TN’s Sai Kishore displayed a stupendous performance and ran through Mumbai’s middle order to such an extent that the 41-time champions were seven down despite a fifty from Musheer.
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Mumbai kept losing wickets at regular intervals courtesy Sai Kishore’s brilliant bowling but Thakur counter-attacked the Tamil Nadu bowlers with a 109-run knock off 105 balls. His knock was laced with 13 fours and four sixes as Mumbai managed to take a big lead.
Kotian, who scored a century in quarters, once again impressed with the bat as his unbeaten 89-run knock took the game away from Tamil Nadu.
Brief scores: Tamil Nadu 146 and 162 in 51.5 overs (Baba Indrajith 70; Shardul Thakur 2/16, Shams Mulani 4/53, Tanush Kotian 2/18) lost to Mumbai 378 in 106.5 overs (Musheer Khan 55, Shardul Thakur 109, Tanush Kotian 89*; R Sai Kishore 6/99) by an innings and 70 runs.
