Bombay 224 (Shardul Thakur 75, Yash Thakur 3-54, Dubey 3-62) and 418 (Musheer 136, Iyer 95, Dubey 5-144) won Vidarbha 105 (Rathod 27, Kotian 3-7, Kulkarni 3-15) and 368 (Wadkar 102, Nair 74, Kotian 4-95, Musheer 2-48) by 169 runs
Kotian, who finished the season with 502 runs and 29 wickets, won the player of the tournament award. It was Kotian who opened the game for Mumbai on the final day when he took one to straighten the wicket and pinned Wadkar lbw for 102 after lunch. Soon after, Kotian hit Yash Thakur to hasten Mumbai’s victory.
Earlier in the morning, Wadkar and Dubey had made Mumbai go all out for a breakthrough. Wadkar, in particular, was either a right-hander or a right-back in Mumbai’s dead-bat spinners. Dubey was more adventurous at the other end, unleashing a slog sweep against left-arm spinner Shams Mulani. One such slog over long-on, from Mulani, helped Dubey move towards his second first half-century in his eighth match.
Kotian could have reduced Dubey’s innings to 13 if Mumbai had revised an off-field decision after the offspinner had hit him on the pads. The tracker indicated that the ball would have landed on leg stump.
Dubey survived lbw appeals on 17 and 18 off Kotian and Kulkarni respectively. He kept Wadkar in good company in a 130-run partnership for the sixth wicket.
Wadkar brought up his – and first of the season – when he hit Kotian through extra-cover for a single. He sank to his knees and put his hands in a prayer before receiving a standing ovation from the friends and families of the Vidarbha players.
The celebrations were short-lived for them as Wadkar and Dubey fell in successive overs. Aditya Sarwate, who was dealing with back spasms, came out to bat at No. 8 but Deshpande dismissed him for 3. Deshpande hit speeds of over 140 kmph and continued to improve the lower-order batsmen with short balls .
Kulkarni then took the final wicket and drove Mumbai off the field. At the post-match presentation, Rahane hailed Kulkarni’s off-field contribution to the Mumbai team as well and handed him the trophy to cap off a dream finish.