Captain Parthiv Patel pulls off dream triumph

Indore: Parthiv Patel scored the most significant century of his First-Class career as his power-packed 143 (196b, 24x4) enabled Gujarat to bulldoze defending champions Mumbai by five wickets for their maiden Ranji Trophy title here today.

Chasing a tricky target of 312 and needing 265 on the final day, Gujarat was guided by their oldest player, whose captain’s knock will be remembered for a long time as it also ensured the highest fourth innings chase in a Ranji Trophy final.

It was the second time that Gujarat had made the final of the prestigious domestic tournament and first in 66 years. They have shown greta improvement as a team, having won the 50-over Vijay Hazare Trophy last season and T20 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in the preceding year.

The pPint-sized Patel showed why his 168 First-Class matches couldn’t have been taken lightly. More so because his 90 in the first innings was the reason Gujarat ended up with  a 100-run lead.

His 25th century was all guts which eventually brought the glory when Chirag Gandhi slashed Shardul Thakur past point boundary.

Parthiv, seven weeks short of his 32nd birthday, celebrated like a child, as did their professional recruit R.P. Singh and the injured Axar Patel.

“It was a dream we collectively saw at the beginning of the season. I was taking my chances and am glad that (they) paid off,” said Parthiv.

Mumbai were sloppy on the field but that can’t take away anything from Gujarat’s effort. They never took their foot off the pedal, didn’t try and play a defensive game.

Manpreet Juneja (54, 115 balls) was equally good again adding 116 runs with his captain. The Mumbai slip cordon started sledging him but it was more to do with the lack of quality in their bowling attack.

It was a rare sight to find the drooping shoulders of the Mumbai players and their skipper Aditya Tare, their ego busted as it was only the second time in 26 years that Mumbai had lost a final.

Scoreboard
Mumbai (I innings): 228
Gujarat (I innings): 328
Mumbai (II innings): 411
Gujarat (II innings, target: 312: O/n 47/0): Samit Gohel c Tare b Nayar 21, Priyank Panchal c Yadav b Sandhu 34, Bhargav Merai b Sandhu 2, Parthiv Patel c & b Thakur 143, Manprit Juneja c Tare b Herwadkar 54, Rujul Bhatt (n.o.) 27, Chirag Gandhi (n.o.) 11. Extras: (lb8, w5, nb3, pen-5) 21
Total: (for 5 wkts, in 89.5 overs) 313
FoW: 1-47, 2-51, 3-89, 4-205, 5-299
Bowling: Thakur 22.5-4-90-1 (1nb, 1w), Sandhu 24-4-101-2 (2nb), Gohil 15-4-46-0, Nayar 15-4-31-1, Dabholkar 4-0-15-0, Herwadkar 9-1-17-1