Ranji Trophy 2016-17 Finals Day 2 Round-Up: Gujarat take first innings lead while Aditya Tare creates history
What’s the Story?
The Gujarat cricket team have taken the first innings lead against defending champions Mumbai as they ended the second day with 291 runs on the board with the loss of six wickets during the final of the Ranji Trophy which is being played at the Holkar Cricket stadium in Indore.
In case you didn’t know...
Gujarat, who are playing in their first ever final after 67 years did well to restrict Mumbai to 228 on the first day. Their bowling line-up was led by Rudra Pratap Singh who picked up two important wickets of Akhil Herwadkar and Siddhesh Lad. He was well complimented by the other bowlers who chipped in with wickets ar regular intervals.
17-year-old Prithvi Shaw was the star of the Mumbai batting line-up as he scored 71 off 92 deliveries after which he was run-out.
The heart of the matter
Mumbai began the day well by taking two quick wickets of Samit Gohel and top-scorer Priyank Panchal and thus putting Gujarat in a spot of bother. Captain Parthiv Patel, Bharghav Merai and Manprit Juneja led the fightback and put on a couple of vital partnerships. While Parthiv top scored with a sumptuous knock of 90, Merai and Juneja chipped in with worthy contributions of 45 and 77 respectively.
Abhishek Nayar was the pick of the bowlers as he picked up three wickets, while Shardul Thakur and Balwinder Sandhu combined to take three wickets amongst themselves. Wicket-keeper Aditya Tare created history by having the most number of dismissals to his name in a single Ranji Trophy season and broke his own personal record. He achieved 49 dismissals earlier today, beating his previous record of 48.
What’s next?
The limited-overs competition- Vijay Hazare Trophy and the newly-proposed inter-zonal T20 tournament for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy will be played after the conclusion of the Ranji Trophy.
Sportskeeda’s take
While Gujarat have taken the vital first innings lead and put themselves in the driver’s seat, fans can expect Mumbai to put up a big fight in their 2nd innings. They have always been relentless when it comes to the knockout stages of the Ranji Trophy and will not go down without a fight in a bid to achieve their 42nd Ranji Trophy title.