Ranji Trophy 2015-16: Semifinal round up

The two final contenders for the summit clash of the Ranji Trophy 2015-16 has now been decided. Mumbai overcame Madhya Pradesh while Saurashtra thrashed Assam to head to the finals. Mumbai reached the final of the Ranji trophy for the 45th time and has won the title a staggering 40 times, the most by any team in the history of the domestic competition.

For Saurashtra, it is a historic moment as the last time they reached the final of the prestigious tournament was way back in 1937-38 season where they were the defending champion after having won it for the first time in the previous season 1936-37.

Jaydev Unadkat rips Assam to ensure an effortless win over Assam 

Jaydev Unadkat match haul of 11/122 starred in Saurashtra’s emphatic 10 wicket win over Assam, taking them to MCA Stadium, Pune for the title clash against Mumbai. Batting first, Assam was dismal and could only accumulate 234 runs. Unadkat ran through their batting order to give an early advantage for the Saurashtra. In reply, Cheteshwar Pujara (126) slammed a brilliant century to take his team to an appreciable total of 353. The Assam side yet again failed to withstand Unadkat’s bowling as the left arm seamer jolted their top order and snapped up another five-wicket haul. Assam got terribly bowled out for just 139 runs, setting a pea-sized target of 20 runs which Saurashtra chased down and won the match by 10 wickets.

Brief Scores:

1^st Innings

Assam: 234 all out (Amit Verma 98; Jaydev Unadkat 6/77)

Saurashtra: 353 all out (Cheteshwar Pujara; Krishna Das 3/80)

2^nd Innings

Assam: 139 all out (Syed Mohammad 39; Jaydev Unadkat 5/45)

Saurashtra: 24/0 (Sagar Jogiyani 23)

Man of the Match: Jaydev Unadkat (Saurashtra)

Mumbai advance to the final on the basis of first innings lead

Ranji giants Mumbai took the first innings lead and will face Saurashtra in the summit clash. Mumbai faced Madhya Pradesh at the green DRIEMS Ground, Cuttack. The MP side won the toss and asked Mumbai to bat first. Mumbai did well and posted 371 in the first innings with the help of Shreyas Iyer (90 runs) and solid performance in the middle order from skipper Aditya Tare (68), Siddhesh Lad (60) and Abhishek Nayar (43). In response, MP folded for just 271 with Naman Ojha (79) top scoring for them. This proved to be the deciding factor in the end. In the 3rd innings, Mumbai hit even harder and piled up 426 runs with Surya Kumar Yadav (115) and Aditya Tare (109) scoring century. Chasing an improbable 571 for victory, Madhya Pradesh looked resilient in the fourth innings and but their efforts weren’t enough to stop Mumbai from advancing.

Brief Scores:

1^st Innings

Mumbai: 371 all out (Shreyas Iyer 90; Chandrakant Sakure 5/137)

Madhya Pradesh: 227 all out (Naman Ojha 79; Balwinder Sandhu 5/43)

2^nd innings

Mumbai: 426 all out (Surya Kumar Yadav 115; Harpreet Singh Bhatia 3/55)

Madhya Pradesh: 361/5 in 109 overs (Naman Ojha 113; Bhavin J Thakkar 1/3)

Man of the Match: Aditya Tare (Mumbai)