Mumbai decimates Uttarakhand by 725 runs in Ranji

BENGALURU: Mumbai on Thursday broke the world record for the highest margin of victory in the history of first-class cricket as it crushed Uttarakhand by a staggering 725 runs on the fourth day of its Ranji Trophy quarter-final here.

Mumbai broke New South Wales’s 92-year-old Sheffield Shield record, which the Australian domestic team had created when it defeated Queensland by 685 runs. In the Ranji Trophy, the previous record for highest margin of victory was held by Bengal, which had thrashed Odisha by 540 runs in 1953-54.

The 41-time Ranji champion, which dominated right from the first day, declared its second innings at 261 for three and thus set Uttarakhand an improbable 794-run target. Uttarakhand, which was bundled out for a paltry 114 in its first essay, once again capitulated in front of the Mumbai bowlers as it was bundled out for just 69 in the second innings.

Mumbai bowlers, led by experienced pacer Dhawal Kulkarni, ran riot. Kulkarni (3/11), in-form left-arm spinner Shams Mulani (3/15) and off-spinner Tanush Kotian (3/13) grabbed three wickets apiece as none of the Uttarakhand batters showed spine.

Kulkarni wreaked havoc as he first castled opener Kamal Singh (0) and then trapped rival skipper Jay Bista (0) in front of the wickets. He later cleaned up Robin Bist (3) with a delivery that jagged backed in as Uttarakhand was staring at a huge defeat.

Mulani, who had bagged a fifer in the first innings, got into the act and ran through the middle-order. For Uttarakhand, such was the collapse that only wicketkeeper Shivam Khurana (25 not out) and Chandela could reach the double-figure mark. Mumbai’s Suved Parkar was adjudged the player of the match.

BRIEF SCORES: Quarter-finals: Mumbai 647/8 decl. & 261/3 decl. bt Uttarakhand 114 & 69 in 27.5 overs (D Kulkarni 3/11, T Kotian 3/13, S Mulani 3/15); Punjab 219 & 203 lost to Madhya Pradesh 397 & 26/0 in 5.1 overs; Bengal 773/7 decl. & 76/3 in 31 overs (S Nadeem 3/18) vs Jharkhand 298

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