Gujarat beats Mumbai to clinch first ever Ranji Trophy title

Indore: Gujarat skipper Parthiv Patel played a sensational innings of 143 runs in the fourth innings to help his team to defeat Mumbai by five wickets and lift its first ever Ranji title here at Holkar Cricket Stadium on Saturday.

On Day 5 of the Ranji Trophy final between Gujarat and Mumbai, Parthiv Patel scored 143 runs off just 196 balls with the help of 24 boundaries. He was the mentor of Gujarat's first ever title win as Manprit Juneja was the highest scorer of the innings with 54 runs off 115 balls.

Also Read: ICSE Class 10, ISC Class 12 exams 2017 datesheet announced

None other Gujarat batsman could cross the 50-run mark in the fourth innings of the match. Parthiv started his innings on a quicker note as his team was required to chase down a huge target of 312 runs on the fifth day of the match. He did not slow down till he ensured his team is going to go past the target easily.

He got out trying to pull a short ball bowled by Shradul Thakur. The ball took a top edge of the bat and Thakur easily caught it off his own bowling. At the time, the captain returned to the pavilion to a standing ovation by the crowd, Gujarat at 299/5 was just a few steps away from the historic victory, which Rujul Bhatt (27*) and Chirag Gandhi (11*) walked together easily in the end.

Earlier, winning the toss, Gujarat put Mumbai in to bat first and wrapped them up for 228 runs in the first innings. On the back of the fifty-plus scores by Parthiv Patel (90) and Manpreet Juneja (77), Gujarat managed to post 328 runs, taking a 100 run lead over the 41-time champion Mumbai.

Mumbai gave 312-run target to Gujarat by scoring 411 runs in the second innings with the help of some fine performances by Abhishek Nayar (91), Shreyas Iyer (82), skipper Aditya Tare (69) and Suryakumar Yadav (49).

Also Read: Sidhu to contest Punjab polls from Amritsar on Congress’ ticket

Till the end of Day 4, Gujarat did not lose any wickets at 47/0 in 13.2 overs.

Chintan Gaja was the pick of the bowlers from Gujarat's side as he bagged eight wickets in the match (2/46 and 6/121).

Parthiv Patel was awarded man of the match award in the Ranji Trophy final for leading his team from the front and scoring 233 runs (90 and 143).