Published: Feb 24, 2016, 08:30 AM (IST)
Edited: Aug 30, 2016, 07:53 PM (IST)
Good Morning and welcome to CricketCountry’s live coverage of the Ranji Trophy 2015-16 final between Mumbai and Saurashtra at Pune on Wednesday. Mumbai are by far the most successful First-Class team in cricket history, and are chasing their 42nd Ranji Trophy title, while Saurashtra have never yet won the Ranji Trophy as Saurashtra (they had previously won when the team was called Nawanagar). Saurashtra’s journey to the final has been especially impressive given that they were in Group C at the start of the tournament — the plate division. READ: Mumbai vs Saurashtra, Ranji Trophy 2015-16 Final at Pune, Preview: Underdogs take on conquistadors
Live Cricket Score: Saurashtra 192/8 | Overs 84.4 | Batting: Prerak Mankad 55 (119): What a pity! Vasavada falls off the last day before stumps, but it has been an incredible fightback, nevertheless. Mankad scores a fifty on debut and he will hope to get some quick runs whe play begins on Day Two. OUT! Arpit Vasavada c Yadav b Kulkarni 77 (214)
Live Cricket Score: Saurashtra 162/7 | Overs 77 | Batting: Arpit Vasavada 67 (195), Prerak Mankad 35 (92): The partnership between Vasavada and Mankad has crossed 50 runs and Mumbai have been toiling hard to get a breakthrough here. Both batsmen are leaving the ball well outside off, something that he earlier batsmen failed to do.
Live Cricket Score: Saurashtra 151/7 | Overs 70 | Batting: Arpit Vasavada 62 (181), Prerak Mankad 29 (64): Saurashtra go past the 150-run mark and this partnership between Vasavada and Mankad is blossoming well. Both of them look set and for the first time today, Mumbai are finding it tough to get a breakthrough.
Live Cricket Score: Saurashtra 138/7 | Overs 62 | Batting: Arpit Vasavada 60 (161), Prerak Mankad 18 (36): Vasavada and Mankad are looking positive as they look to take Saurashtra to a decent score. Vasavada looks set and will look to get to his century. Mankad looks promising on debut.
Live Cricket Score: Saurashtra 126/7 | Overs 58 | Batting: Arpit Vasavada 59 (153), Prerak Mankad 7 (20): TEA! Saurashtra are struggling at the moment but they manage to go to tea with Vasavada unbeaten on 59, which has been the only positive in this innings so far.
Live Cricket Score: Saurashtra 123/7 | Overs 56 | Batting: Arpit Vasavada 58 (150), Prerak Mankad 5 (11): Saurashtra have two more wickets but Vasavada has scored a half-century that has taken the team past the 100-run mark. Debutant Prerak Mankad too is struggling, but he is hanging in there. OUT! Chirag Jani c Tare b Thakur 13 (50), Deepak Punia 6 (11)
Live Cricket Score: Saurashtra 86/5 | Overs 43 | Batting: Arpit Vasavada 42 (112), Chirag Jani 5 (32): Mumbai are on top at the moment and Saurashtra batsmen are looking to survive. Mumbai will want to pick up a few more wickets here and put Saurashtra on the back foot. Tare has rotated his bowlers well so far. Vasavada offering some resistance.
Live Cricket Score: Saurashtra 79/5 | Overs 38 | Batting: Arpit Vasavada 39 (103), Chirag Jani 1 (11): After offering some resistance, skipper Jaydev Shah is finally dismissed after lunch and it is Dhawal Kulkarni, who gets the wicket. He has bowled extremely well today and deserves these wickets. OUT! Jaydev Shah c Tare b Kulkarni 13 (33)
Live Cricket Score: Saurashtra 73/4 | Overs 34 | Batting: Arpit Vasavada 34 (93), Jaydev Shah 13 (30): It’s lunch in Pune and Saurashtra have done well to ensure that they do not lose another wicket after having lost in reasonably quick time. Mumbai will however be happy with their effort and will look to make further inroads when the second session begins.
Live Cricket Score: Saurashtra 70/4 | Overs 31 | Batting: Arpit Vasavada 33 (90), Jaydev Shah 11 (21): Saurashtra have not lost a wicket in some time now and have managed to score some valuable runs as well Vasavada looks settled now and will look to go onto make a big score here. Shah is batting well at the other end.
Live Cricket Score: Saurashtra 42/4 | Overs 21 | Batting: Arpit Vasavada 16 (41), Jaydev Shah 0 (4): Jackson’s long, agonising innings comes to an end as he is dismissed for a 27-ball duck off the bowling of Sandhu. Saurashtra in deeper trouble no. Mumbai bowlers look firmly in control at the moment. OUT! Sheldon Jackson c Herwadkar b Sandhu 0 (27)
Live Cricket Score: Saurashtra 38/3 | Overs 13 | Batting: Arpit Vasavada 12 (17), Sheldon Jackson 0 (7): Another wicket falls and this time it is the experienced Cheteshwar Pujara, who edges one to slips. Mumbai right on top here and will look to get a further two ir three more wickets before lunch. OUT! Cheteshwar Pujara c Yadav b Kulkarni 4 (13)
Live Cricket Score: Saurashtra 24/2 | Overs 8 | Batting: Cheteshwar Pujara 0 (2), Arpit Vasavada 2 (5): Saurashtra have lost both their openers in a matter of few deliveries. Kulkarni and Thakur get one wicket apiece. Saurashtra will have to rebuild from here. The experience of Cheteshwar Pujara will be handy here. OUT! Avi Bharot c Shreyas b Kulkarni 14 (22), Sagar Jogiyani c Tare b Thakur 8 (19)
Live Cricket Score: Saurashtra 9/0 | Overs 3 | Batting: Avi Barot 9 (11), Sagar Jogiyani 0 (7): Dhawal Kumkarni started things off well, conceding just one in his first over, but Barot smashed Shardul Thakur for a couple of boundaries in is first over. Good start for Saurashtra so far.
Teams:
Mumbai: Akhil Herwadkar, Bhavin Thakkar, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Aditya Tare (c & wk), Siddhesh Lad, Abhishek Nayar, Balwinder Sandhu, Iqbal Abdulla, Dhawal Kulkarni, Shardul Thakur.
Saurashtra: Avi Barot, Sagar Jogiyani (wk), Cheteshwar Pujara, Arpit Vasavada, Sheldon Jackson, Jaydev Shah (c), Chirag Jani, Jaydev Unadkat, Deepak Punia, Prerak Mankad, Hardik Rathod.
Prerak Mankad makes his First-Class debut for Saurashtra, replacing Dharmendrasinh Jadeja.
TOSS: Mumbai win toss, choose to bowl first
All eyes will be on Shreyas Iyer, Mumbai’s 21-year-old powerhouse who is now 211 runs away from being the leading run-scorer in a single season of Ranji Trophy. Shreyas is currently fifth on the all-time list behind VVS Laxman, Vijay Bharadwaj, Wasim Jaffer, and Kedar Jadhav, but with one match to go he has every chance of going past that landmark. Shreyas is playing only his second season of Ranji Trophy, but he is already considered one of the brightest talents of the Indian domestic circuit. READ: Shreyas Iyer on the verge of Ranji Trophy history
Mumbai have a good side even without their mainstays Ajinkya Rahane and Rohit Sharma, away on national duty, and Wasim Jaffer, who chose to leave Mumbai. Apart from Shreyas, they have the likes of Suryakumar Yadav, Akhil Herwadkar, Aditya Tare, Dhawal Kulkarni, Iqbal Abdulla, Abhishek Nayar, Shardul Thakur, and Siddhesh Lad, among others. Saurashtra do not have as good a side, but the presence of Cheteshwar Pujara will be a massive boost, along with the likes of Sheldon Jackson, Dharmendrasinh Jadeja, Arpit Vasavada, Avi Barot, and most importantly Jaydev Unadkat.
Squads:
Mumbai: Aditya Tare(c&wk), Shreyas Iyer, Dhawal Kulkarni, Vishal Dabholkar, Akhil Herwadkar, Iqbal Abdulla, Siddhesh Lad, Abhishek Nayar, Balwinder Sandhu, Shardul Thakur, Suryakumar Yadav, Badre Alam, Nikhil Patil, Sufiyan Sheikh, Bhavin Thakkar.
Saurashtra: Jaydev Shah(c), Sagar Jogiyani(wk), Cheteshwar Pujara, Sheldon Jackson, Dharmendrasinh Jadeja, Arpit Vasavada, Avi Barot, Chirag Jani, Kamlesh Makvana, Jaydev Unadkat, Mohsin Dodia, Vandit Jivrajani, Prerak Mankad, Deepak Punia, Hardik Rathod.
