Gujarat clinched their maiden Ranji Trophy title as they rode on Parthiv Patel’s innings of 143 to beat defending champions Mumbai by five wickets on the final day at the Holkar Stadium.
Asked to chase 312-run target, Parthi and Manprit Juneja put up a 116-run stand after Gujarat were reduced to 89 for the loss of three wickets. Gujarat became the 17th team to lift the title. With this title, Gujarat have won the domestic titles in T20, one-day and Ranji. They are only the fourth team to achieve this feat.
Parthiv, scored his 25th century in first class cricket, then stitched a 94-run stand for the fifth wicket with Rujul Bhatt to help Gujarat overhaul the target set by Mumbai, who were playing for their 42nd title. Parthi, who led from the front and hit 143 before he was caught and bowled by Shardul Thakur. His innings included 28 fours.
Patel, who had a decent Test series against England, looked determined as he raced away to his half-century in 71 deliveries.
As Gujarat skipper continued with his calculated innings and build partnerships with Juneja and Bhatt, Mumbai struggled to find a good line and length as the bowlers leaked runs. To add to their misery, fielding was another disappointing factor for the defending champions.
Rujul Bhatt and Chirag Gandhi completed the formalities as they won by five wickets, triggering wild celebrations in the Gujarat camp. Opener Priyank Panchal finished as the top scorer of the season with 1310 runs.
Chirag, who came in after his captain played a match-winning knock, finished the job with a four off Thakur.
Brief scores: Mumbai 228 and 411 all out. Gujarat first innings 328 all out and 313-5 (Parthiv Patel 143, Manprit Juneja 54, Rujul Bhat 27 not out; Balwinder Singh Sandhu 2-101, Abhishek Nayar 1-31) on Day 5.
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