Madhya Pradesh topple Mumbai to clinch maiden Ranji Trophy title

Madhya Pradesh create history as they clinch the Ranji Trophy title for the first time, toppling powerhouse Mumbai by six wickets in the final at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru. MP, playing their first final in 23 years, were set a target of 108 and chased it down without any major hiccups after bowling Mumbai out for 269 on the final day.

𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧. 𝗔. 𝗪𝗜𝗡! 👏 👏

Madhya Pradesh beat Mumbai by 6 wickets & clinch their maiden #RanjiTrophy title👍 👍 @Paytm | #Final | #MPvMUM

Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/xwAZ13D0nP pic.twitter.com/XrSp2YzwSu

— BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) June 26, 2022

Sarfaraz Khan (45) finished the season with 982 runs at 122.75, which includes four tons and a couple of fifties. It's yet another trophy for Chandrakant Pandit, who incidentally led Madhya Pradesh, the last time they made the final, only to lose to Karnataka at the same venue.

Young Suved Parkar (51) tried their bit, but with the need to attack at every opportunity, MP's Kumar Kartikeya (4 for 98) and the other bowlers knew that wickets would come their way.

MP lost the wicket of Yash Dubey, who scored a century in the first innings early, after Dhawal Kulkarni breached his defence. However, Himanshu Mantri (37) and Shubham Sharma (30) steadied the innings with a patient 52-run stand for the second wicket. 

Shams Mulani kept Mumbai interested for a bit with his three wickets to go with a fifer in the first innings, but it was not enough. 

Opting to bat first, Mumbai rode on yet another hundred from Sarfaraz to post 374. In reply, three out of MP's top four got centuries to put Mumbai on the back foot that saw them take a lead of 162. Seeking quick runs in a bid to win the game outright, Mumbai got starts from everyone in the top-order but managed to get a lead of just 107.

This is Mumbai's second consecutive loss in the Ranji Trophy final. They lost the final in 2017 to Gujarat in Indore.

Since 2010, the Ranji Trophy, barring Karnataka's dominance for a few seasons and Mumbai winning it once, it has been won by teams like Rajasthan (twice), Vidarbha (twice), Saurashtra (once) and Madhya Pradesh, who would never be in contention in the past.

This is perhaps an indication that cricket has moved from the Shivaji Park, Azad Maidan or Cross Maidan in Mumbai, from the National Stadium in Delhi or the state-of-the-art camps in Bengaluru or Kolkata, to the hinterlands.

Brief scores:

Mumbai 374 (Sarfaraz Khan 134, Yashasvi Jaiswal 78; Gaurav Yadav 4 for 106) & 269 (Suved Parkar 51, Sarfaraz Khan 45; Kumar Kartikeya 4 for 98) lost to Madhya Pradesh 536 (Yash Dubey 133, Rajat Patidar 122; Shams Mulani 5 for 173) & 108 for 4 (Himanshu Mantri 37, Rajat Patidar 30*; Shams Mulani 3 for 41) by 6 wickets.

Player of the match: Shubham Sharma

Player of the tournament: Sarfaraz Khan

(With inputs from PTI)