Ranji Trophy 2022 Final, Mumbai vs MP, Day 2: Sarfaraz century takes Mumbai to 374; MP at 123-1
Ranji Trophy 2022 Final, Mumbai vs Madhya Pradesh, Day 2, Top Performances: Sarfaraz Khan's 134, Gaurav Yadav's 4-106 and Yash Dubey-Shubham Sharma's 76-run stand are top performances. Madhya Pradesh trail by 251 runs; Mumbai 374 all-out.
Brief Scores: Madhya Pradesh 123-1 (Yash Dubey 44*, Shubham Sharma 41*, Deshpande 31/1) trail Mumbai 374 (Sarfaraz 134, Jaiswal 78, Yadav 106/4, Agarwal 81/3) by 251 runs at Stumps on Day 2
Mumbai started their innings at 248-5 in the morning, however, they lost a wicket in the first over of the day only. Medium-pacer Gaurav Yadav dismissed Shams Mulani on his overnight score of 12 by trapping the batter in front of the stumps.
Let’s scan the top performances from Day 2 of Ranji Trophy 2022 Final between Mumbai and Madhya Pradesh.
Sarfaraz century propels Mumbai close to 400
As Mumbai were six down, all their hopes were on their highest run-scorer in this season of Ranji Trophy, Sarfaraz Khan, to reach an adequate total in the first innings. Sarfaraz was on an unbeaten 40 off 125 balls at the end of the first day. The 24-year-old batter played patiently early in the morning and completed his fifty of 152 deliveries.
After completing his half-century, he freed his hands and started to play his strokes. He drove one delivery off Yadav straight down the ground towards the boundary and followed it with another boundary off spinner Kumar Kartikeya in the next over. However, he lost another partner as Tanush Kotian got bowled by pacer Yadav on a personal score of 15. Though Sarfaraz continued to pile boundaries to garner runs quickly. In the meantime, Mumbai reached 300.
Sarfaraz hammered two boundaries off right-arm pacer Yadav. As Sarfaraz raced quickly towards his century, he completed it by smashing a boundary straight down the wicket. Just before his century, Mumbai lost another wicket, as Dhawal Kulkarni got out on just one which left Mumbai eight down on the score of 320.
As Sarfaraz continued to lose his partners on another end, he tried to gather runs quickly by smashing boundaries. He launched a huge six off spinner Kartikeya and followed it with a four in the same over. After Mumbai crossed 350, umpires called for the lunch break.
After the lunch break, Sarfaraz continued to collect runs quickly but got caught by Madhya Pradesh skipper Aditya Shrivastava at extra cover while trying to get another boundary. The batter made 134 runs off 243 balls. His stupendous knock was studded with 13 fours and two sixes.
This is Sarfaraz Khan's 4th hundred in Ranji Trophy 2021-22 season.
Read More: Ranji Trophy 2022 Final, Mumbai vs MP, Day 1: Jaiswal shines with 78 as Mumbai reach 248-5
Gaurav Yadav picked a four-wicket haul
Madhya Pradesh seamer Gaurav Yadav didn’t get a single wicket on Day 1 against Mumbai, but on Day 2 he picked a wicket in his first over. He produced a threatening inswinger to trap Shams Mulani in front of wickets, which left Mumbai six down.
Even if Mumbai batter Sarfaraz continued to pile runs, Yadav continued to pick wickets against the run of play. The 30-year-old pacer produced a beautiful delivery which straightened after pitching on the middle stump line and dislodged the off-stump of Tanush Kotian. Kotian could make only 15 runs off 39 balls.
Even though Yadav continued to take wickets, he couldn’t stop Sarfaraz from piling the runs. The right-arm pacer dismissed Tushar Deshpande to leave Mumbai nine down. Also, Yadav dismissed Sarfaraz to wrap up the innings of Mumbai on 374.
Yadav’s four-wicket haul stopped Mumbai from reaching 400. So, this performance of Yadav kept this all-important Ranji Trophy final match in the balance, where Madhya Pradesh could also manage to win the title.
Read More: Ranji Trophy 2022: Hardik Tamore - A New Star rises in the Mumbai Sky
Yash Dubey and Shubham Sharma added 76 runs for the second wicket
After bundling out Mumbai on 374, Madhya Pradesh had a good start. Their openers Yash Dubey and Himanshu Mantri batted confidently against opponent pacers - Dhawal Kulkarni and Tushar Deshpande.
However, Deshpande provided a breakthrough to his side by trapping Mantri plumb in front of the wickets. Mantri scored 31 runs off 50 balls.
Next batter Shubham Sharma opened his account by smashing a boundary off pacer Deshpande. The batter continued to smash occasional boundaries in the next few overs. The batting pair of Dubey and Sharma helped their side reach 100. They stitched 76 runs for the second wicket till the end of second day. Dubey is unbeaten on 44 off 131 deliveries and Sharma is unbeaten on 41 off 65 balls.
What to Expect on Day 3
The vital second wicket partnership between Dubey and Sharma has laid the platform for Madhya Pradesh to post a huge total on the scoreboard. Madhya Pradesh will look forward to getting past the first innings total of Mumbai.
On the other end, Mumbai will be disappointed as they couldn’t pick a few more wickets on Day 2. They would hope to take all remaining wickets of Madhya Pradesh on Day 3 to take the first-innings lead in this all-important game.