Mumbai beat Vidarbha by 169 runs to clinch 42nd Ranji Trophy title

Mumbai skipper Ajinkya Rahane praised Vidarbha for their gritty display before lifting the trophy and rightly so.

For a team which paid a heavy price for a poor first-innings score — 105 to concede a 119-run lead in response to Mumbai’s 224 — Vidarbha showed resilience to gave a fine account of themselves in the second innings.

Mumbai began the final day hoping to break the sixth-wicket stand between Wadkar and Dubey early but their wait only extended since the batters overcame all challenges that the hosts threw at them.

With the pace bowlers not being able to trouble the batters, Mumbai hopes were pinned on their spinners but their own error cost Rahane’s side early on.

Kotian appealed for a bat-pad catch at silly point against Dubey in the 101st over of the innings but the appeal was turned down.

In a show of desperation, Mumbai went for the DRS intervention which confirmed the ball had not grazed the bat and was also going to miss the leg stump.

Kotian then found an outside edge off Wadkar’s bat which fell close to Rahane.

Mumbai’s frustration was evident when Kulkarni held his ground at the end of his follow through after being declined a leg-before appeal against Dubey.

Kulkarni made some gestures and even exchanged a few words with the umpire but replays confirmed that the ball had pitched outside the leg-stump.

Dubey was also lucky when Kotian pinned him in front of the wickets but Mumbai could not get it overturned since they had no reviews left.

The Vidarbha batter continued to ride his luck, getting another decision in his favour when replays showed the ball had missed his bat and gloves off Shams Mulani.

Wadkar completed his century shortly after lunch but once he was dismissed, the rest of the batting collapsed soon after.

Brief scores: Mumbai: 224 & 418 Vidarbha: 105 & 368 in 134.4 overs (Atharva Taide 32, Aman Mokhade 32, Karun Nair 74, Akshay Wadkar 102; Tanush Kotian 4/95) by 169 runs.