You don’t need an anthropologist to tell you how integral the Gujarati community is to the cultural firmament of Mumbai. So, it’s only fitting that matches between the domestic giant and Gujarat (or, for that matter, Baroda or Saurashtra) are played in the true spirit.
It was no different at the Wankhede over the past four days. That said, Gujarat could not break its Mumbai jinx. And for the third time in four seasons, it crashed out of the Ranji Trophy at the hands of its dominant neighbour.
The visitor, which went into the final day of the Group B encounter 176 behind Mumbai’s 531, avoided the follow-on and eventually posted 421. In the second essay, Gujarat had to stop Mumbai from scoring more than 160 in 59 overs or 219 in 74 overs. This, according to head coach Rakesh Patel, would have helped the team inch ahead of third-placed Madhya Pradesh in the points table.
Gujarat failed to restrict Mumbai, which ended up with 227 for six in 65 overs before the start of the mandatory overs. Consequently, Gujarat finished with a net run-rate of -0.092 as against MP’s -0.059. Both teams had 24 points after eight games. Mumbai completed its league engagements with 35 points to top Group B.
The quarterfinal round begins on February 3.
The scores:
Mumbai — 1st innings: 531.
Gujarat — 1st innings: Asad Pathan c Tare b Sandhu 6, Priyank Panchal c Tare b Thakur 36, Bhargav Merai c & b Thakur 166, Manpreet Juneja c Yadav b Thakur 0, Rujul Bhatt b Alam 31, Parthiv Patel lbw b Alam 4, Axar Patel c Patil b Thakur 88, Rush Kalaria c Tare b Thakur 24, Ramesh Powar st. Tare b Abdulla 34, RP Singh c Herwadkar b Thakur 8, Jasprit Bumrah (not out) 6; Extras (b-8, lb-7, w-1, nb-2): 18; Total (in 139.4 overs): 421.
Fall of wickets: 1-41, 2-47, 3-53, 4-135, 5-139, 6-294, 7-353, 8-391, 9-413.
Mumbai bowling: Shardul Thakur 37-12-107-6, BS Sandhu 27-9-98-1, Badre Alam 27-2-93-2, Iqbal Abdulla 28.4-5-68-1, Jay Bista 14-0-29-0, Shreyas Iyer 6-1-11-0.
Mumbai — 2nd innings: Akhil Herwadkar b Patel 41, Jay Bista b Patel 18, Shreyas Iyer c sub b Bhatt 37, Suryakumar Yadav c sub b Bhatt 25, Nikhil Patil Jr. (not out) 44, Aditya Tare c sub b Bhatt 29, Siddhesh Lad c sub b Bhatt 11, Iqbal Abdulla (not out) 8; Extras (b-9, lb-3, w-2): 14; Total (for six wkts. in 65 overs): 227.
Fall of wickets: 1-47, 2-84, 3-124, 4-127, 5-177, 6-198.
Gujarat bowling: RP Singh 5-0-18-0, Rush Kalaria 4-0-21-0, Jasprit Bumrah 4-0-15-0, Axar Patel 27-2-85-2, Rujul Bhatt 25-4-76-4.
Mumbai 3 pts (35), Gujarat 1 pt (24).