Vidarbha is on top after the first day’s play in the Ranji Trophy 2024 Final. After winning the toss, Akshay Wadkar decided to put Mumbai in at their home ground, the Wankhede Stadium. The decision seemed to have backfired as the Mumbai openers raced to 81 for no loss. However, a sudden collapse caused the home side to be reduced to 111/6. But things were far from over as Shardul Thakur struck a potential match-winning 75-run knock to take Mumbai to 224.
Vidarbha started cautiously, but the man in the form of his life, Shardul, came steaming and sent Dhruv Shorey back for a duck by a vicious in-ducker. Just as Atharva Taide and Aman Mokhade looked to have consolidated things, Dhawal Kulkarni sent Mokhade back to the pavilion. Kulkarni, playing in his next match, sent Vidarbha’s highest run scorer, Karun Nair, to the hut, with a 200-run trail still left.
Shardul Thakur plays another gutsy knock
After smashing his maiden first-class century in the semifinal against Tamil Nadu, Shardul Thakur has top-scored for his side once again. With his side 111/5, the aggressive all-rounder entered and saved his side from a collapse of epic proportions in the Ranji Trophy Final. Skipper Ajinkya Rahane’s poor run continued as he departed for 6 in the very next over.
Shardul constructed their small partnership with Shams Mulani, Tanush Kotian, and Tushar Deshpande. However, the aggressive intent remained the highlight. He smacked a 37-ball fifty and changed the momentum of the match. Thakur added 43 with Shams, 22 with Kotian, and 42 with Deshpande to take Mumbai to 224. He ended with a match-saving 75, adding 113 valuable runs for Mumbai for the last five wickets.
Top order disappoints; Thakur and Dubey rock Mumbai
81/0—that was the score when Mumbai’s highest run-scorer this season, Bhupen Lalwani, was caught behind. Who would imagine that Mumbai will be 111/6 in the next couple of hours? Lalwani was caught fishing outside off and departed for 46. Having already given them a good start, one could say he had done his bit. However, Prithvi Shaw followed just three overs later, trying to sweep a full ball on middle by Yash Thakur.
Musheer Khan was caught in two minds and was struck in front by Thakur. Shreyas Iyer was the next victim, going out to Umesh Yadav on a short ball outside off that he nicked to first slip. Wicketkeeper Hardik Tamore was caught behind as well, while Rahane chipped the ball to deep mid-off while trying to be aggressive.
Ranji Trophy 2024 Final: Day 1 Brief Scores
Mumbai: 224/10 (Shardul Thakur 75, Prithvi Shaw 46; Harsh Dubey 3/62, Yash Thakur 3/54)
Vidarbha: 31/3 (Atharva Taide 21, Aman Mokhade 8; Dhawal Kulkarni 2/9 Shardul Thakur 1/14)
MUM vs VID: Squads
Mumbai: Prithvi Shaw, Bhupen Lalwani, Musheer Khan, Ajinkya Rahane (c), Shreyas Iyer, Hardik Tamore (wk), Shams Mulani, Shardul Thakur, Tanush Kotian, Tushar Deshpande, Dhawal Kulkarni.
Vidarbha: Atharva Taide, Dhruv Shorey, Aman Mokhade, Karun Nair, Yash Rathod, Akshay Wadkar (c & wk), Aditya Sarwate, Umesh Yadav, Harsh Dubey, Yash Thakur, Aditya Thakare.
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