Ranji Trophy finals: Mumbai scores 141 on Day 2 thanks to Rahane and Musheer’s tenacious effort

When Mumbai plays Vidarbha in the Ranji Trophy final at the Wankhede Stadium, they are sure to win handily.

After the home bowlers united to brilliantly bowl out the visitors for only 105, at the close of Day Two, the junior-senior combination of one-drop batsman Musheer Khan and captain Ajinkya Rahane kept the screws ready to be tightened on Vidarbha.

Mumbai rallied from the early losses of Prithvi Shaw (11) and Bhupen Lalwani (18) to record 141-2 in the second innings, led by Rahane and Musheer, who remained undefeated at 58 and 51, respectively. This gave Mumbai an overall advantage of 260 runs.

While Rahane’s presence in the dressing room and his calm demeanor were crucial to the team’s seamless progress towards the summit battle, he was terribly lacking in runs on an individual basis.

He hit his second half-century in his ninth game of the 2023–24 competition on Monday.

As soon as the 85-Test veteran joined Musheer, the scoreboard read 34–2.

Even though Vidarbha’s attack including left-arm spinner Harsh Dubey (1-46), pacer Yash Thakur (1-25), and Test player Umesh Yadav (0-17) only resulted in a few wickets, it didn’t really show how difficult it was for Rahane and Musheer. Despite being repeatedly battered, both of them lived.

Rahane, who scored 109 runs off 109 balls with four fours and a six, took his time till he reached 40 before he pulled left-arm spinner Aditya Sarwate over the mid-wicket boundary. After four balls, Yadav hit a textbook cover drive that reached the boundary ropes, giving the Mumbai skipper his 57th half-century in first class cricket.

Musheer also put up a lot of effort and shown excellent patience during his 135-ball stay, using three fours to achieve his second first-class fifty. Rahane’s 107-run undefeated stand in the quarterfinal double centurion (against Baroda) shattered Vidarbha’s heart.

Vidarbha was bowled out for 105 earlier in the day, having only managed to add 74 runs to their overnight total of 31-3.

Pacer Dhawal Kulkarni (3-15) delivered the first blow, dismissing in-form opener Atharva Taide (23), caught by wicketkeeper Hardik Tamore, to give his side a 119-run first-inning advantage.

After that, off-spinner Tanush Kotian (3-7) tormented the visitors with clean bowling Yash Rathod (27) and left-arm spinner Shams Mulani (3-32); Mumbai’s efforts culminated in a lead of 119 runs.

Mulani, the vice captain of Mumbai, said that the squad honored the captain’s fifty years of service as if it were his hundred. We are aware of how significant this little accomplishment was to him. For a player of his caliber, I don’t believe a Ranji Trophy fifty is all that significant. However, it was crucial that he remain on the wicket for the team. For us, his presence is much more crucial. He batted in an incredible manner. Mulani expressed her happiness for Rahane.

Brief scores: Vidarbha 105 (Y Rathod 27; T Kotian 3-7, D Kulkarni 3-15, S Mulani 3-32) against Mumbai 224 & 141-2 (A Rahane 58*, M Khan 51*).