Ranji Trophy final: Mumbai restricted to 248/5 by disciplined Madhya Pradesh bowling on Day 1 – Firstcricket News, Firstpost
Madhya Pradesh stuck to their plans and made inroads into the Mumbai batting on Day 1 of the Ranji Trophy final on Wednesday. At stumps, Mumbai were 248 at the loss of five wickets at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Prithvi Shaw and Yashasvi Jaiswal stitched an 87-run stand at the top of the order but that was the only positive for 41-time champions Mumbai as batters struggled in cloudy conditions.
Shaw (47 from 79 balls) and Jaiswal (78 from 163 balls) started slowly to the pace bowling but got better as the day progressed.
The Mumbai captain Shaw then fell for 47 runs to Anubhav Agarwal’s spin. While going for a drive, he missed and the ball straightened to topple the stump.
A 400-plus total will now hinge upon season’s highest run-getter Sarfaraz Khan (40 not out), who is looking good for another big knock with the dependable Shams Mulani (12 not out) giving him company.
Left-arm spinner Kumar Kartikeya bowled 31 overs from one end for figures of 1 for 91. At the other, seamer Gaurav Yadav (23-5-68-0) was unlucky and the wickets column doesn’t reflect the relentless pressure that he put on Mumbai batters, especially Shaw.
Pressure created by Yadav helped seamer Anubhav Agarwal (19-3-56-2) and tall off-spinner Saransh Jain (17-2-31-2) to share the bulk of the spoils.
Arman Jaffer (26) replaced Shaw just before lunch and looked solid till he tried a forward-defensive jab off Kartikeya, without factoring in the extra bounce, and the ball took an inside edge off his bat and Yash Dubey, at short mid-wicket, completed a diving catch.
The pitch slowed down by the second session and Saved Parkar (18) paid the price when a delivery from Saransh stopped on him and the leading edge lobbed up for an easy take for rival captain Aditya Shrivastava.
Jaiswal, closing in on a fourth hundred of the season, was done in by some smart cricket. Anubhav started cramping the left-hander for room. As he was finding it difficult to get the boundaries, Jaiswal, without much room, tried the square cut but failed and Dubey took a sharp low catch at gully.
Madhya Pradesh lineup doesn’t include experienced seamer Puneet Datey who has been left out. Taking his place is debutant Parth Sahani. MP are playing three spinners, two of them left-arm orthodox in Parth Sahani and Kartikeya. Mumbai, on their part, have two spinners in Shams Mulani and Tanush Kotian.
Mumbai are seeking their 42nd Ranji Trophy title and first since 2016 against MP who are aiming their first. Last time MP reached the final was in the 1998-99 season. Mumbai, on the other hand, have won 41 of their 46 finals.
Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
