Mumbai out of Ranji Trophy Knock-outs After Draw Against Saurashtra
Multiple-time champions Mumbai were knocked out of the ongoing Ranji Trophy after drawing against Saurashtra on the fourth and final day of their elite Group B match here on Friday.
Rajkot, Feb 7 (PTI) Multiple-time champions Mumbai were knocked out of the ongoing Ranji Trophy after drawing against Saurashtra on the fourth and final day of their elite Group B match here on Friday.
Saurashtra's Dharmendrasinh Jadeja and Kamlesh Makwana played patient knocks to deny Mumbai an outright win.
Saurashtra, thus, took three points from the drawn affair, courtesy their first-innings lead.
Mumbai, whose fight back was led with Surya Kumar Yadav's ton, had to be content with a lone point.
Mumbai, the most successful team in the history of Ranji Trophy with 41 titles, still have a game left against Madhya Pradesh, but their campaign is over as they have only 14 points and even an outright win won't help them to make the knock-outs.
Only top five teams from combined Group A and B make the quarter-finals.
Two teams go through from Group C, while one team moves ahead from the Plate Group.
On fourth and final day, Mumbai spinners Shams Mulani (3/47) and Shashank Attarde (3/45) ran through the Saurashtra top and middle order to leave the hosts reeling at 83 for 7 to raise hopes of a Mumbai win.
But then Jadeja, who came in at number nine and Makwana, who came in at eight, held both the ends up and batted together for almost 40 overs to deny Mumbai six points.
Makwana, who remained unbeaten on 31, consumed 116 balls, while Jadeja who remained unbeaten on 33 batted for 125 balls.
The duo negated the challenge posed by Mumbai spinners on a deteriorating track and dashed Mumbai's hopes.
After Mumbai declared for 362 for 7 in their second essay, Attarde removed Snell Patel (0) with a return catch.
Just two balls later, Attarde got his second after Divyaraj Chouhan's (0) flick was caught at short-mid wicket by Mulani.
Soon, it became 21/3 as Mulani got one to skid and trapped Sheldon Jackson (11) in-front of the wicket.
Harvik Desai (24) and Arpit Vasavada (31) ensured that Saurashtra took lunch at 35 for 3. But post lunch, Mumbai grabbed another four wickets as Saurashtra imploded fast.
First Mulani broke through Harvik Desai's defence as he was caught by Jay Bista and then Chirag Jani (0) and Prerak Mankad (9) too perished quickly.
Mulani then removed danger-man Vasavada as Saurashtra were on the verge of a defeat.
But then Jadeja and Makwana joined hands and dashed Mumbai's hopes.
Saurahstra next play Tamil Nadu and still has a chance to make the quarters.
Meanwhile at Shimoga, Madhya Pradesh grabbed three points after their match ended in a draw against Karnataka.
Karnataka had posted huge 426 in their first innings, but Aditya Srivastava struck a gritty 192 to give Madhya Pradesh give the crucial first innings lead.
In the national capital, Railways took three points from their drawn game against Himachal Pradesh, courtesy the first-innings lead.
Brief Scores: Mumbai 262 and 362/7 declared (Suryakumar Yadav 134, Shams Mulani 92; Prerak Mankad 2-52) vs Saurashtra 335 and158/7. Match Drawn. Saurashtra took first-innings lead. Saurashtra 3 points, Mumbai 1 point.
At Shimoga: Karnataka 426 and 62/1 v/s Madhya Pradesh 431 (Aditya Shrivastava 192, Venkatesh Iyer 86; Abhimanyu Mithun 3/69). Match Drawn. MP took first innings lead. MP 3 points, Karnataka 1 point.
At New Delhi (Karnail Singh Stadium): Himachal Pradesh 283 and 165/3 v/s Railways 545 for 7 declared. Match drawn. Railways took first-innings lead. Railways 3 points, HP 1 point.
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