Mumbai secured their spot in the final of the Ranji Trophy 2023-24 season after beating Tamil Nadu by an innings and 70 runs at the Sharad Pawar Cricket Academy BKC, Mumbai on Monday.
All-rounder Shardul Thakur was the star performer, stealing the spotlight from the returning Shreyas Iyer, picking up the Player of the Match award for his all-round performance. He picked up a match haul of four wickets to go with a first-innings century.
Earlier, after winning the toss, Tamil Nadu were blown away for just 146 runs with Mumbai’s Tushar Deshpande picking up three wickets. The trio of Thakur, Musheer Khan and Tanush Kotian picked up two each to put the home side in front.
The visitors managed to put in a decent shift with the ball as skipper R Sai Kishore led from the front to get the big names in the Mumbai top-order out. Musheer, however, managed to score a crucial fifty but this was outshone by Thakur who went on to score his maiden first-class century (109). Kotian added 89 runs as the home side took a lead of 232 runs.
In TN’s second dig, Thakur managed to deliver with the ball picking up the wickets of the opening pair of N Jagadeesan (0) and Sai Sudarshan (5) cheaply. Washington Sundar, who batted at No.3, failed to get going and departed for just four. Baba Indrajith put up a lone fight as the other experienced campaigners failed to capitalise after getting starts. Left-arm spinner Shams Mulani picked up four wickets in the second innings to seal Mumbai’s record-extending 48th final in the prestigious tournament.
