Mumbai to play Karnataka in the Ranji Trophy final

Delhi played their best cricket a day too late and their surge on Wednesday at the Brabourne Stadium yielded no tangible results. As expected, defending champions Mumbai cruised into yet another Ranji Trophy final — their 43rd overall and third in four years — where they will face Karnataka.

In Bangalore, Rahul Dravid’s men made mincemeat of Uttar Pradesh.

Both have met twice before in the title round and the head-to-head record stands at 1-1. Karnataka beat Mumbai in 1982-83 while the 38-time champions emerged victorious in 1974-75. Karnataka, who have won the trophy six times, will host Mumbai in Mysore.

On Wednesday though, Delhi, who were thoroughly outplayed on the first three days, outscored and outbowled their fancied opponents on the final day of the semifinal clash. Delhi’s teenaged left-arm spinner Vikas Mishra returned a sparkling performance, picking up three more wickets to finish with 6/49 in the second innings and a match analysis of 10/139.

Mumbai — overnight 123 for four — folded up at the stroke of lunch. The hosts managed only 64 runs off 42.2 overs thanks to Mishra ‘sixer’ and Aditya Jain’s 4/43. The tail wagged for a while as the last-wicket pair of Aavishkar Salvi and Usman Salvi hung in for almost an hour to consume 113 deliveries and scoring 21 runs.

First-innings centurion Abhishek Nayar and Ramesh Powar were among the six batsmen who failed to register double-digit scores in the second innings. Ajit Agarkar’s boundary-laced 23 lasted 51 balls as the hosts managed 187, setting Delhi an unlikely target of 477 in 47 overs.

The visitors showed a lot more purpose in the second essay but Shikhar Dhawan, who made 44 on Tuesday, failed to go past the 50-run mark yet again. Mayank Tehlan (37), Aditya Jain (27) and Puneet Bisht (31 not out) ensured a steady response. Delhi were at 160/4 after 38 overs when the umpires decided to call it a day.

Scorecard
Mumbai 1st Innings: 500
Delhi 1st Innings: 211

Mumbai 2nd Innings (overnight 123/4): O Khanvilkar c Jain b Mishra 15, I Abdullah b Mishra 2, A Nayar b Mishra 2, A Agarkar c Chhabra b Jain 23, R Powar c Manhas b Jain 5, U Malvi not out 10, A Salvi c Tehlan b Jain 7; Extras: (NB4, W1, LB6, B20) 31; Total: (all out; 75.2 overs) 187; Fall of Wickets: 5/124, 6/129, 7/147, 8/161, 9/166; Bowling: Sangwan 11-1-29-0, Awana 3-2-1-0, Ishant 2-0-10-0, Mishra 31-14-49-6, A Jain 18.2-10-43-4, M Tehlan 9-0-29-0, M Manhas 1-1-0-0

Delhi 2nd Innings: M Tehlan b Abdullah 37, S Dhawan st Samant b Powar 40, A Jain c & b Abdullah 27, P Bisht not out 31, G Chhabra c Malvi b Abdullah 8, P Sangwan not out 16; Extras: (LB1) 1; Total: (4 wickets; 38 overs) 160; Fall of Wickets: 1/59, 2/89, 3/118, 4/136; Bowling: Salvi 4-1-16-0, Malvi 4-0-20-0, Powar 11-0-49-1, Abdulla 15-4-54-3, Rahane 4-0-2-0.