A stellar first innings outing with the bat and a dominant display with the ball led Mumbai to steamroll Tamil Nadu in the second semifinal of the Ranji Trophy 2024. The 41-time Ranji Trophy champions have made their way into a record-extending 48th final after beating TN by an innings and 70 runs at the Sharad Pawar Cricket Academy BKC, Mumbai.
Mumbai first bowled Tamil Nadu out for 146 in the first innings with a spectacular bowling effort before Shardul Thakur came to the rescue with the bat. The hosts were reeling at 106/7 and were staring a possible deficit but Shardul struck 109 from 104 balls before Tanush Kotian, fresh from his century in the quarterfinal, scored a crucial 89 to take Mumbai to 378. Shardul got to his maiden century in first-class cricket, while Kotian scored back-to-back scores of fifty-plus. Despite being in a spot of bother for a while, the Ajinkya Rahane-led side took a 232-run lead.
Sai Kishore's Tamil Nadu was up against a daunting task to make their way into their 13th final. But their hopes did not materialise due to a brilliant bowling effort from the hosts. Left-arm spinner Shams Mulani took four wickets while Shardul Thakur, Mohit Avasthi and Tanush Kotian snared two wickets each to seal the win for the hosts.
The game ended in three days. Mumbai had their noses ahead after the end of the first day. They first bowled the visitors out for 146 with Tushar Deshpande taking three wickets, while Shardul, Musheer and Tanush claimed two wickets a piece. They were at 45/2 when the opening day ended with both openers Prithvi Shaw and Bhupen Lalwani back to the hut. Sai Kishore's fifer brought the visitors back into the game as Mumbai went down from 91/3 to 106/7 before Shardul came to the rescue. He played a stroke-filled knock of 109 from 105 balls and when he fell, the team was already at 290/9. Tushar Deshpande and Tanush, who notched a 232-run stand in the quarterfinal, combined for an 82-run stand to take the hosts past 350.
Mumbai added 25 to their overnight total of day 2 on the third day before they set a lead of 232 runs. Openers Sai Sudharsan and Narayan Jagadeesan and Washington Sundar fell with the team at 10, which made matters worse for them. Baba Indrajith and Pradosh Ranjan Paul brought a stand of 73 runs before Tanush got the latter. Indrajith made 70, which was the highest score of the second innings with the next highest being Pradosh Paul's 25. They were never in the game after the first-inning assault from Mumbai and conceded the final which means their entry into the summit clash has to wait for another year. Tamil Nadu's last final appearance came nine years back in 2014-15.
Mumbai will now play the winner of Madhya Pradesh and Vidarbha in the final from March 10 onwards.
