Mumbai tied with Maharashtra on first-innings scores during their must-win Ranji Trophy Round 7 clash at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai on Thursday.
Chasing Maharashtra’s daunting 384-run total, Mumbai had resumed Day 3 at 187 for five with wicketkeeper Prasad Pawar keeping his team in the hunt with his maiden First-Class century. However, Prasad fell on 145 before all-rounder Tanush Kotian single-handedly put up a fight for Mumbai.
Kotian lifted the side from 306 for seven and put Mumbai (23 points) within touching distance of taking the first-innings lead to pip Maharashtra (25 points) for three points. Batting on 91, Kotian sneaked in two runs before being cleaned up by Maharashtra spinner Vicky Ostwal to leave the teams level on their first-innings scores at 384.
The outcome jeopardised the hopes of both teams to make the quarterfinal as Andhra produced an innings win over Assam to grab seven points to storm to 26 points in Elite Group B, ahead of Mumbai and Maharashtra.
How can Andhra qualify ahead of Mumbai and Maharashtra?
According to the BCCI Playing Conditions for the multi-day tournament, the number of bonus point wins becomes the first point of consideration when teams are level on points.
If the Mumbai-Maharashtra match ends in a draw on Friday, Maharashtra will be locked with Andhra on 26 points while Mumbai will finish at 24 points - both teams earning a point for the first-innings tie.
In such a scenario, Andha would go through with its bonus point win in this round as Maharashtra failed to notch up a 7-point victory over the previous six rounds.
Interestingly, the first-innings tie was just the 10th such instance in Ranji Trophy history. Earlier in the tournament, Bihar and Sikkim had levelled on their first-innings scores during a Plate Group match in Patna.
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