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On Saturday, February 21, Vidarbha reached the final of Ranji Trophy for a second straight season after defeating Mumbai in the semi-final of the 2024-25 edition by a margin of 80 runs at the Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA) Stadium in Nagpur. In defense of the 405-run total on day five, Vidarbha bowlers had to endure stiff resistance from Mumbai’s lower order, but they were ultimately bundled in the last session on day five.
For the unversed, after winning the toss on day one, Akshay Wadkar, the captain of Vidarbha, decided to bat first, and they posted a very good total of 383 runs on the board in their first innings, thanks to the fifties from Dhruv Shorey, Danish Malewar, and Yash Rathod, while Shivam Dube picked up a five-wicket haul to the surprise of many. In response, apart from Akash Anand’s hundred, none of the Mumbai batters got past the 30-run mark, which meant that they were bundled out for 270 runs.
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Parth Rekhade took a four-fer as Vidarbha were able to secure a vital first innings lead of 113 runs. In their second innings, the hosts had a tough start, losing four early wickets, which gave Mumbai a sniff in the contest, but a fifth wicket partnership of 158 runs between Yash Rathod (151 off 252) and captain Akshay Wadkar (52 off 202), helped them reach 292-run total despite the six wickets to Shams Mulani, setting up a daunting target of 406 runs for Mumbai to book a spot in yet another final of Ranji Trophy.
During the run chase, Mumbai were reduced to 124/6 at one stage with the likes of captain Ajinkya Rahane, Shivam Dube, and Suryakumar Yadav, along with the centurion of first innings Akash Anand losing their wickets relatively cheaply. Following that, bowling all-rounder Shardul Thakur once again went on his way to rescue Mumbai with the bat in Ranji Trophy alongside Shams Mulani, sharing a 103-run stand for the seventh wicket.
But, shortly after Mulani was dismissed for 46 runs, Shardul Thakur was cleaned up by Yash Thakur on 66 in 124, ending any realistic hopes of Mumbai to rescue their Ranji Trophy campaign. The bottom three of Tanush Kotian, Mohit Avasthi, and Royston Dias made the bowlers toil hard, but they were eventually cleaned up as Mumbai ended their second innings on 325 runs with Harsh Dubey taking a five-wicket haul for Vidarbha, who will be taking on Kerala in the Ranji Trophy final.
