Mumbai march into Ranji Trophy final, to meet Madhya Pradesh

Uttar Pradesh, here on Saturday. The 41-time champions, Mumbai thoroughly dominated from the first ball of the game, which ended in a draw, at the Just Cricket Academy ground. Mumbai had posted 393 in their first innings and then bundled out Uttar Pradesh for a meagre 180, to gain a massive first-innings lead.

Read AlsoRanji Trophy: Kartikeya takes five as MP thrash Bengal to reach final

Bengal needed 350 runs to win a tough semi-final but left-arm spinner Kumar Kartikeya bowled out an under-pressure team to exactly half of the target to take Madhya Pradesh to Ranji Trophy final after 23 years.

When play ended on the fourth day on Friday, Mumbai had piled up a mammoth 449 for 4 in their second essay, courtesy hundreds by Yashasvi Jaiswal and Armaan Jaffer. At stumps of Day 4, Mumbai took an overall lead of 662 runs, making it amply clear that there was only one result possible from the match. On Saturday, play began after lunch due to wet out-field and overnight batters Sarfaraz Khan and Shams Mulani continued to torment the UP bowlers. Both Sarfaraz (59 not out) and Mulani (51 not out) completed their half-centuries, after which both the captains decided to shake hands. Mumbai posted 533 for 4 in their second essay. Sarfaraz hit one boundary and three sixes, while Mulani hammered six fours. Mumbai will meet Madhya Pradesh in the final, which will be played at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium from June 22. The final will be a battle between two former Mumbai players Amol Mazumdar and Chandrakant Pandit, who are coaches of Mumbai and MP respectively.