Ranji Trophy semifinals | Mumbai march into finals, to meet Madhya Pradesh
The Hindu
Madhya Pradesh entering finals after 23 years will be facing the 41-time champions Mumbai in Bengaluru on June 22.
Domestic giants Mumbai completed the formality of qualifying for the Ranji Trophy final by virtue of first innings lead on the final day of their last-four match against Uttar Pradesh, on Saturday.
Bengal needed 350 runs to win a tough semi-final but left-arm spinner Kumar Kartikeya bowled out an under-pressure team to exactly half of the target to take Madhya Pradesh to final after 23 years.
The 41-time champions, Mumbai thoroughly dominated from the first ball of the game, which ended in a draw, at the Just Cricket Academy ground.
Mumbai had posted 393 in their first innings and then bundled out Uttar Pradesh for a meagre 180, to gain a massive first-innings lead.
When play ended on the fourth day on Friday, Mumbai had piled up a mammoth 449 for 4 in their second essay, courtesy hundreds by Yashasvi Jaiswal and Armaan Jaffer.
At stumps of Day 4, Mumbai took an overall lead of 662 runs, making it amply clear that there was only one result possible from the match.
On Saturday, play began after lunch due to wet out-field and overnight batters Sarfaraz Khan and Shams Mulani continued to torment the UP bowlers.