Madhya Pradesh Enters Ranji Trophy Finals After 23 Years

Madhya Pradesh defeated Bengal by 174 runs in the Ranji Trophy Semi-Finals.

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Madhya Pradesh came out with a spirited performance against Bengal in the Ranji Trophy semifinals and stormed into the finals after their opponents by 174 runs at Alur Cricket Stadium, Bangalore. 

MP qualified for the Ranji finals after 23 years. The last time when they managed to get into the last stage of the Ranji Trophy was in the 1998-99 season when they lost to Karnataka. 

Madhya Pradesh had opted to bat first and posted 341 runs in the first inning on the back of a sensational 165 by Himanshu Mantri and a solid 63 off 81 by Akshat Raghuwanshi. For Bengal, Mukesh Kumar picked four wickets and Shahbaz Ahmed took three. 

In reply, three-fers for Kumar Kartikeya, Saransh Jain, and Puneet Datey helped MP restrict Bengal to 273 runs despite centuries from Manoj Tiwary and Shahbaz Ahmed. 

With a healthy lead of 68 runs, Madhya Pradesh added another 281 runs with the help of captain Aditya Shrivastava's 82 and Rajat Patidar's 79. MP would have loved to score more but Shahbaz's fifer and Pradipta Pramanik's four-wicket haul helped Bengal set themselves a target of 450. 

Kumar Kartikeya picked a five-haul and got support from Saransh Jain and Gourav Yadav as MP bowled Bengal out for just 175 on the final day. Abhimanyu Easwaran was the lone fighter for Bengal with 78 runs but didn't get much support from the other end. 

Madhya Pradesh will now face Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy Final on 22nd June which will be played at M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore.