Mumbai romps to nine-wicket win over Maharashtra

Mumbai romps to nine-wicket win over Maharashtra

It may have lost the bonus point but it took Mumbai just 61 balls and 54 minutes on the last morning to complete a nine-wicket rout over Maharashtra and finally get its Ranji Trophy title defence going.

Needing just 61 more runs to overhaul a target of 74 runs set by Maharashtra, Mumbai required openers Prithvi Shaw and Ayush Mhatre to cross the target with an unbroken partnership. If a team wins either by an innings or 10 wickets, it is awarded a bonus point. Having started its campaign with a loss in Baroda last week, the bonus would have come in handy.

However, halfway towards the march, Mhatre – the teenager who scored a sensational hundred in the opening innings – top-edged an attempted flick off Satyajeet Bachhav’s left-arm spin to Sachin Dhas at short extra cover. Mhatre – down with a viral infection since the start of the third day and forced to rest in the dressing room for the first two sessions on Sunday – was a tad disappointed but had every reason to hold his head high after the first innings exploits that set the game up for Mumbai.

The dismissal gave an opportunity to Hardik Tamore to celebrate his birthday a day later. He did so by driving with panache and being involved in a jugalbandi along with Shaw who finished the game off in style.

Maharashtra stuck with spin-and-pace combination of Bachhav and Pradeep Dadhe all through the morning. Ever since Shaw glanced the first ball of the morning off Bachhav for a four and then punched the bowler through covers, it was a given that the Maharashtra team can start its road trip back to Pune earlier than expected.

With a four-day gap before the next round, Mumbai will rest for a day before travelling to Agartala to face Tripura in the next round. It will hope for clear weather in the north-east, while Maharashtra will host Meghalaya in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar from October 26.

The scores: