Ranji Trophy Semifinals LIVE Day 5 – Bengal vs Madhya Pradesh LIVE, Mumbai vs UP LIVE: Madhya Pradesh clinched a thumping 174-run win to book their place in the Ranji Trophy finals on Saturday. It marks MP’s return to the summit clash after the 1998-99 season. Madhya Pradesh will face Mumbai, who sealed their place in the final via a first-innings lead over Uttar Pradesh. Follow Ranji Trophy Semifinals LIVE Updates with InsideSport.IN.
Ranji Trophy Semifinals LIVE Day 5: Madhya Pradesh reach Ranji Trophy final after 21 years, Mumbai lead by 682 runs- Follow Ranji Trophy LIVE Updates
Madhya Pradesh sealed their first Ranji Trophy final appearance in 21 years with a thumping 174-run win over Bengal in the semifinals on Saturday. MP, who have never won the title before, will face a stern test in 41-time champions Mumbai, who currently boasts of a 600+ lead batting on Day 5 against Uttar Pradesh.
Kumar Kartikeya starred with the ball once again, running through the Bengal batting order with another five-wicket haul. The left-arm spinner, who had recently debuted for Mumbai Indians in the IPL, had incidentally picked up a six-wicket haul in the quarterfinals against Punjab to seal MP’s win.
Madhya Pradesh march into the @Paytm #RanjiTrophy #Final! 👏 👏
The Aditya Shrivastava-led unit beat Bengal by 174 runs in the #SF1 to seal a spot in the summit clash. 👍 👍 #BENvMP
Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/liCIcmzaPM pic.twitter.com/qoYkqNHkQh
— BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) June 18, 2022
The 174-run win is a reflection of Madhya Pradesh’s superior batting might, after a close shave in the first innings. MP had slammed 341 batting first thanks to a stellar 165 from Himanshu Mantri, while Akshat Raghuvanshi chipped in with a fine 63.
Bengal were down and out having slipped to 54/5, but centuries from Shahbaz Ahmed and Manoj Tiwary pulled Bengal closer. Nonetheless, MP kept their nerve and sealed a 68-run lead which proved to be a pivotal turning point in the game.
Rajat Patidar and Aditya Shrivastava scored fifties as MP set a 350-run target for Bengal, but barring captain Abhimanyu Easwaran, none of the batters turned up Kartikeya ripped them to shreds to seal a 174-run win. MP coach Chandrakant Pandit, who mastered title wins with Mumbai and Vidharba, will hope to hand his team their first title against former side.
Madhya Pradesh 341 (Himanshu Mantri 165, Mukesh Kumar 4/66) and 281 (Aditya Shrivastava 82, Shahbaz Ahmed 5/79) beat Bengal 273 (Shahbaz Ahmed 116, Puneet Datey 3/48) and 175 (Abhimanyu Easwaran 78, Kumar Kartikeya 5/67) by 174 runs
Ranji Trophy Semifinals LIVE Day 5: Madhya Pradesh reach Ranji Trophy final after 21 years, Mumbai lead by 682 runs- Follow Ranji Trophy LIVE Updates
Mumbai meanwhile took their lead well past the 700-run mark before agreeing on a draw with Uttar Pradesh to book their place in the Ranji Trophy finals. The 41-time champions Mumbai reach the summit clash after a gap of five years, and will be the natural favourites.
Hardik Tamore and Yashasvi Jaiswal scored centuries as Mumbai put on 393 in the first innings at the Just Cricket Ground. In response, Uttar Pradesh were cleaned up for just 180, with Shivam Mavi playing an entertaining knock of 48. Tushar Deshpande, Mohit Awasthi and Tanush Kotian bagged 3 wickets each.
Chasing to bat, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Armaan Jaffer scored centuries, while Prithvi Shaw, Shams Mulani and Sarfaraz Khan scored half-centuries as Mumbai piled on 533 to bat Uttar Pradesh out of the contest.
Mumbai 393 (Hardik Tamore 115, Yashasvi Jaiswal 100, Karan Sharma 4/46) and 533/4 (Jaiswal 181, Armaan Jaffer 127, Prince Yadav 2/92) drew against Uttar Pradesh 180 (Shivam Mavi 48, Tushar Deshpande 3/34, Tanush Kotian 3/35)
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