Mumbai hand Saurashtra innings defeat, win 41st Ranji Trophy title
Aditya Tare's team won the match comprehensively by an innings and 21 runs, thanks to a brilliant hundred from Shreyas Iyer.
A second-innings collapse from Saurashtra handed Mumbai their 41st Ranji Trophy title on the third day of the final in Pune on Friday. Mumbai won the match comprehensively by an innings and 21 runs, thanks to a sparkling ton from 21-year-old Shreyas Iyer and five-wicket hauls from Dhawal Kulkarni and Shardul Thakur.
Saurashtra had only managed to put up 235 on the board in their first innings after being put in to bat on a green top by Mumbai. The only two significant contributions in Saurashtra's innings were Arpit Vasavda's 77 and a late-order fighting knock from Prerak Mankad, who scored 66.
In reply, Mumbai struggled initially and reached 262/8 at the end of the second day. Back then, it looked like they would only get a minor lead. However, their No 3 batsman, Iyer, continued his brilliant Ranji Trophy form, scoring a fluent 117. A vital last-wicket partnership of 103 between Siddesh Lad (88) and Balwinder Sandhu (34*) allowed Mumbai to finish on 371, a lead of over 130.
Saurashtra hardly got going in their second innings, losing wickets in a heap. They collapsed to 24/3 and were finally bowled out for only 115. For Mumbai, Shardul Thakur picked up five wickets for 26 runs, while Dhawal Kulkarni and Sandhu took two each.