Mumbai crush Vadodara by 63 runs in Ranji semis

Vadodara, Jan 25 (UNI) Thirty six-time Ranji champions Mumbai stormed into the finals of the premier national cricket championship yet again when they crushed Vadodara by 63 runs on the third day of their five-day semi-final match at the Motibaug Palace ground here today.

Chasing a moderate target of 237 for victory after Mumbai were bowled out for 145 in their second innings earlier in the opening session, the hosts miserably failed to withstand the Mumbai pace attack and folded up the innings at 173 barely 15 minutes before close of play.

Mumbai medium pacers--Abhishek Nair (3/38), Wilkin Mota (3/36), Rajesh Varma (2/40) and Swapnil Hazare (2/42) maintaining good line and length continued to dominate the proceedings claiming wickets at regular intervals.

Irfan Pathan, who is struggling with his poor performance, top scored with 27 off 57 balls with three fours and one six, while his elder sibling, Yusuf Pathan, who hit 70 in Vadodara first innings total of 142, was sent back to pavilion for 15. Swapnil Hazare virtually sealed the fate of Vadodara by dismissing the Pathan brothers duo in the last over before tea when the hosts were tottering at 120 for 7.

Earlier, resuming at the overnight second innings score of 109 for 7, Mumbai lost the remaining three wickets in one-and-a-half hours adding 36 runs thus setting a target of 237 for Vadodara for an outright victory.

Mumbai, who achieved the most dubious distinction losing 5 of their top-order batsmen in the second innings with no score on the board yesterday, rallied in a splendid manner through wicketkeeper-batsman Vinayak Samant (66, 8x4, 136b) and all-rounder Wilkin Mota, who contributed a valuable 33 with four boundaries.

Mumbai skipper Amol Muzumdar and coach Praveen Amre, who had lost the hope of making it to the final after their side was reduced to 0 for five, gave full credit to Samant and Wilkin Mota for their brilliant performance with the bat under the circumstances that helped the seamers to defend their target. ''It was really a very tought and challenging match for Mumbai in the current season,'' they said.

Vadodara skipper Jacob Martin said even as his side conceded 91 runs first innings lead to Mumbai, they had fought back with fantastic bowling by Irfan and Rakesh Patel, but their collective batting failure deprived Vadodara to move to the finals.

Mumbai, who last won Ranji Trophy in 2003-04 defeating Tamil Nadu, had suffered defeats at the hands of Punjab and Uttar Pradesh respectively in the semi-finals for the last two consecutive years.

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