Mumbai 224 (Shardul Thakur 75, Yash Thakur 3-54, Dubey 3-62) and 418 (Musheer 136, Iyer 95, Dubey 5-144) beat Vidarbha 105 (Rathod 27, Kotian 3-7, Kulkarni 3-15) and 368 (Wadkar 102, Nair 74, Kotian 4-95, Musheer 2-48) by 169 runs
Mumbai broke Vidarbha’s resistance on the fifth afternoon and secured their 42nd Ranji Trophy title and first since 2015-16. Spin-bowling allrounder Tanush Kotian and quick bowler Tushar Deshpande crushed Vidarbha’s dream and dismissed them for 368, in an unprecedented chase of 538, after captain Akshay Wadkar and rookie Harsh Dubey had performed out a wicket-less morning session.
Fittingly, it was veteran Dhawal Kulkarni who sealed victory for Mumbai in what was his final recreation for them. Along with his captain Ajinkya Rahane and the Wankhede crowd warmly cheering him on, Kulkarni bowled Umesh Yadav to give himself a profitable send-off. Having picked up a fourth-innings five-for in his first Ranji ultimate, towards Uttar Pradesh, again in 2009, Kulkarni signed off as a bona fide home stalwart for Mumbai.
He leaves Mumbai’s assault within the protected palms of Deshpande, who bullied Vidarbha with around-the-wicket bouncers on the fifth day and Mohit Mohit Avasthi, who was Mumbai’s joint-highest wicket-taker this season with 35 strikes in eight video games. Avasthi wasn’t obtainable for the ultimate due to damage, with Kulkarni taking his place.
Deivarayan Muthu is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo
