Ranji Trophy final: Madhya Pradesh take charge on Day 4
Day 4 of the 2021-22 Ranji Trophy final witnessed Madhya Pradesh's Rajat Patidar smash a mind-boggling hundred against Mumbai. Later, Saransh Jain did the honors and chipped in with a crunch fifty. The duo powered MP to 536, taking a 162-run lead over their rivals. For Mumbai, ace spinner Shams Mulani bagged a five-wicket haul. Mumbai (113/2) now trail by 49 runs.
Resuming from 67*, Patidar went on to compile 122 off 219 deliveries. He hit 20 fours during the course of his inning. He clocked his second ton of the season. Patidar has raced to 628 runs at 78.50. He ranks second only to Sarfaraz Khan in terms of runs amassed this season (937). His last four scores read 122, 7, 79, and 85.
Shams Mulani had bagged a solitary scalp on Day 3. However, the left-arm orthodox looked far commanding on Day 4. He pocketed four wickets (Parth Sahani, Saransh, Anubhav Agarwal, and Kumar Kartikeya) and swept MP's tail. He also clocked his sixth five-fer of the season. He now has 42 scalps this season at 16.97. Tushar Deshpande (3/116) and Mohit Avasthi (2/93) bowled decent.
MP needed runs from every nook and corner to put Mumbai on the back foot. And, Saransh Jain's fifty turned out to be a handful. The number eight batter scored 57 off 97 deliveries, hitting seven fours. He registered his maiden fifty in FC cricket.
Mumbai paced their innings in a limited-overs fashion. Openers Prithvi Shaw and Hardik Tamore added 63 runs amongst themselves. The partnership was cut short by Kumar Kartikeya, who bowled out the latter. Shaw bashed three fours and two sixes and raced to 44. He perished after driving toward an expansive shot outside off stump. Armaan Jaffer (30*) and Suved Parkar (9*) stayed put.
