Ranji Trophy Final HIGHLIGHTS Day 2, Mumbai vs Vidarbha: MUM 141/2; Musheer, Rahane fifties take Mumbai’s lead to 260 runs

What a turnaround to the day. Nine wickets had gone down on the second day till the afternoon session, but Musheer Khan and Ajinkya Rahane have ensured that Mumbai is in cruise control of the contest. The day started with its bowlers skittling out Vidarbha for 105, and the duo brought the final flourish.

Karun Nair to bowl the final over of the day. Musheer drives through cover to bring up his half century. That’s the end of the session. No wicket lost for Mumbai and 89 runs added. The lead is at 260 runs.

As the day’s play comes to an end, Mumbai has retreated. Just seven runs off the last four overs. Musheer Khan just five runs short of reaching fifty.

FIFTY FOR RAHANE! He could not have picked a better time to score this one. He drives Umesh through covers and soaks the applause in. Three more runs for him in the over.

SIX! Rahane reads the short-pitched delivery from Sarwate and goes back into his crease to pummel it over mid wicket. The first maximum of the innings.

The runs beginning to flow now. Musheer picks two fours off Sarwate’s over, first through point and then through long off. 

Rahane is given leg before in Harsh Dubey’s over. But he opts for a review and the replays show an inside edge.

The fifty partnership between Rahane and Musheer comes up with the former pulling away a short ball to the fence off Yash Thakur. The lead also above 200 runs. Mumbai beginning to pull clear now.

FOUR! A classic flick of the wrists from Rahane after stepping out to Sarwate. He pierces the gap between mid on and mid wicket for another boundary. Mumbai’s lead nears 200.

Yash Thakur replaces Aditya Thakare. Rahane and Musheer both exploit the vacant area behind square on the off side. Both work the ball into the space and pick two singles.

A close shave for Musheer. Rahane taps with soft hands on the off side and Musheer calls him for a single. The throw is at the striker’s end and Musheer grounds his bat in the nick of time. 

Sarwate’s delivery slides on with the angle and beats Musheer’s bat. Sarwate is convinced he has his man. Wadkar too agrees and goes up for a review. The angle is a little too much and is taking the ball down the leg stump, says the ball tracker. Another review lost for Vidarbha.

Aditya Sarwate for his first over. Four singles from the over.

A boundary from Rahane. He drives Thakare through the mid on region to pick his first boundary of the match. Into double digits now. Mumbai could do with some quick runs after scoring slowly in the afternoon session.

Rahane will face Thakare in the first over of the session.

Aditya Sarwate, the Vidarbha off-spinner, fighting an injury, is back on the field.

Musheer presses forward to defend and edges the ball past first slip. Two runs bring the fifty for Mumbai. 

Rahane in the previous over is lured into multiple false shots by Thakare. But all seaming a little too much to get the edge.

And that will be Tea on Day 2.

The Mumbai skipper has had a horrid season. But he has one final chance to play a title-winning knock for his side. Will we see a classic Rahane innings in the final?

Aditya Thakare for the first time in the innings. He beats the outside edge of Rahane on a couple of deliveries. A maiden for Thakare.

Rahane and Musheer sticking to their defensive approach. Just three runs off the last three overs. Harsh Dubey is extracting bounce and turn and causing trouble.

A DRS scare for Rahane. Umesh troubles him by bringing the ball in to the right-hander. On the third ball, Vidarbha is convinced he is plumb in front. But the umpire denies and a review is take. The ball tracker shows the ball is just clipping the bails but Rahane is not out for the on-field call made by the umpire.

GONE! Lalwani holes out at short mid wicket. He wants to step out against Harsh Dubey and chip the ball over the fielder. Fails to connect cleanly and Aman Mokhade takes a brilliant diving catch.

Bhupen Lalwani c Kale b Dubey 18(38)

In walks Ajinkya Rahane. Caresses the ball through covers to get off the mark.

Musheer Khan joins Bhupen Lalwani in the middle. Watchful approach from both the batters, causing the runs to dry up since the fall of the wicket.

Shaw is OUT! He survived a nip-backer by the barest of margins in the last over from Yash. This time the bowler takes the lbw out of the equation. He breaches the gate and castles him. 

Prithvi Shaw b Yash Thakur 11 (18)

SHAW IS GIVEN LBW! He decides to review it and the UltraEdge shows a spike next to the bat. Shaw survives due to the inside edge. Vidarbha just cannot seem to catch a break.

Lalwani is trapped in front of the stumps against Yash Thakur. Vidarbha reviews but loses it as the impact was outside off. 

Shaw picks a boundary in the next over from Dubey albeit with an edge through the slip cordon.

Harsh Dubey with the new ball, in hopes of exploiting turn like his counterpart Shams Mulani did earlier today. 

FOUR! Dubey sends a delivery on the pads of Lalwani, who laps up the loosener with a nudge down through fine leg.

A confident start from the openers. Three runs from the first over. Yash Thakur bowls the first over instead of Umesh Yadav. There is not much movement to trouble the batters.

Bhupen Lalwani and Prithvi Shaw begin the second innings for Mumbai. They effectively start at 119 for no loss, and Mumbai would want to make the most of all the time remaining in this contest to bat Vidarbha out of the match.

Umesh Yadav also perishes trying to take on Kotian. He is caught at a slightly deeper mid off. What a collapse for Vidarbha!

Umesh Yadav c Deshpande b Kotian 2(8)

FOUR! Kotian overpitches against Yash, and he drives it through the gap between covers and mid off. WICKET! Yash slices his heave over the on side and holes out at mid off.

Yash Thakur c Deshpande b Kotian 16(29)

BOWLED HIM! Rathod tries to make room and cut Kotian. A big inside edge goes onto the stumps. Tanush Kotian has a wicket too.

Yash Rathod b Kotian 27(67)

Umesh Yadav at No. 10. He tries a slog sweep on his second delivery, manages to get it to fine leg for a single. Yash gets an edge on the final delivery; enough to pick a single.

Two paddle sweeps from Yash against Mulani gets him two boundaries in the over. If he can lend some support to Rathod, Vidarbha can hope to make it past 150.

The slide continues. Harsh Dubey is caught at short leg. A faint inside edge which is overlooked by the umpire. But Rahane sends the decision to the third umpire and Mumbai has its prize. 

Harsh Dubey c Lalwani b Mulani 1 (6)

Yash Thakur picks a single through third man region with an outside edge.

WADKAR IS OUT! Mulani induces a false shot and manages the edge. The Vidarbha captain has gone up for a review. There is a spike on UltraEdge and the review is lost.

Akshay Wadkar c Tamore b Mulani 5(5)

FOUR! Akshay Wadkar off the mark in style. Slashes, and slashes hard at a wide delivery from Deshpande to get the ball between gully and backward point.

Breakthrough! Mulani gets the ball to go straight. Thakare, playing for spin, misses and gets trapped on the front foot. The partnership is finally broken.

Aditya Thakare lbw b Mulani 19(69)

FOUR! Thakare slogs on the on side and puts it past mid on. Mulani bowled a no ball too making it five runs from that shot. DROPPED! A tough chance for silly point but chance nonetheless. Thakare takes a long stride forward to defend, the ball rises off the bat’s shoulder before Bhupen Lalwani puts it down.

The partnership between the pair has ballooned up to 32 runs. Rathod on 22 and Thakare holding his own on 15 now.

Thakare frustrating Mumbai. He gets to the pitch against Mulani and slaps him down the ground to pick a boundary.

Rathod places Deshpande’s over-pitched delivery through mid wicket; two runs. He is forced into a pull shot too which gets him a single.

Deshpande to Rathod, FOUR! A sublime drive through the covers. Ajinkya Rahane makes a desperate dive to stop the ball but does not stop it. OUCH! Rathod is hit on the helmet. He is ducking down on a short-pitched delivery but the ball does not quite take off and rams straight into the helmet.

FOUR! Tushar Deshpande gives away a half-volley on the pads and Rathod accepts the gift with a clip through the on side. Another clip gets Rathod a single to fine leg.

FOUR! A well-timed sweep from Rathod against Mulani. Fifty up for Vidarbha too.

A change in bowling for Mumbai. Shams Mulani takes over from Shardul Thakur. First run for Yash Rathod on the last ball of the over.

Thakare on drives against Shardul to collect two runs more. A flick to follow up and run a single. He’s batting on 11 runs now.

Runs coming at a trickle for Vidarbha. Kulkarni and Shardul have kept their lines accurate and have got a stranglehold on the run rate. The new batter, Yash Rathod, is yet to get off the mark.

Taide has been given LBW! He goes up for a review. The ball is pitching outside leg and Kulkarni will not have his third wicket. GONE! Taide is caught behind. This time there is no saving him. 

Atharva Taide c Tamore b Kulkarni 23(60)

FOUR! Thakare with a drive down the ground off Kulkarni that would give any batter a run for their money. Leans in and presents a vertical bat, hitting the ball right under his eyes.

The first runs come off Thakare’s bat. Thakur pitches on the leg-stump line and the batter glances it away on the on side to pick two.

Kulkarni with the first over of the day. Taide is happy to shoulder arms early on. Good carry and bounce in the first over of the day. A maiden to start off.

The Vidarbha opener managed to put up 21 on the board before the close of play on Day 1. He had his share of close calls but navigated through the final hour dominated by the Mumbai bowlers. Vidarbha is still 193 short and Taide will have to stay for as long as possible to get his team into the contest.

Despite best efforts from Shardul Thakur, Mumbai was bundled out for 224 runs inside 70 overs on Day 1. The all-rounder who played a crucial 69-ball 75 was clear in expressing his disappointment with the side’s batting temperament.

Ranji Trophy 2023-24 Final: If the top order applied themselves we could have reached 350, says Shardul Thakur

Just like he came hard at the Vidarbha bowlers with the willow, Shardul Thakur minced no words at the Mumbai specialist batters after the first day’s play of the Ranji Trophy final.

Out of the 13 wickets that fell on the first day, nine were taken by the quicks. For Vidarbha, Yash Thakur got three, Umesh Yadav got two and Aditya Thakare had one. In reply, Shardul Thakur accounted for Dhruv Shorey with an unplayable nip-backer and then Dhawal Kulkarni, playing his farewell match, notched up two.

The live streaming for the second day of Mumbai vs Vidarbha Ranji Trophy Final will be available on JioCinema. The match will also be telecast on Sports18.